Witch Me?(Which or Shadowhunter book 2)
by SmolAngryRussian
Summary: Naila Nightcross begins her first year at Hogwarts to find a deep threat hanging over the school. Having to protect Hermione Granger, her tutor and unwanted companion, from demons is no small task for the young Shadowhunter. Unfortunately, the second year with a strange last name showing up a year late doesn't go unnoticed by everyone. Or anyone, for that matter. Very cringey.Sorry
1. Diagon What?

As Brother Zachariah touches his stele to my skin, I barely flinch. I remember the day K died, when he let me apply one of his Marks. Fighting back tears, I watch in wonder as the Voyance Rune appears on my left hand. Another of the Silent Brothers, Brother Ahasuerus, stands nearby. Momma's got her hand on my shoulder and Dad is standing in the doorway. Brother Zachariah moves the stele with the ease of years of practice. The lines curls inside the eye and he lifts his stele. Before Brother Ahasuerus can check how I am, there's a loud POP sound outside. I jump, startled, and knock Brother Zachariah's stele to the floor. Momma's eyes go wide and says urgently to the Silent Brothers, "that must be one of the wizards, they can't see you." Right as she finishes speaking, there's a knock on the door and both Brothers slip silently into the shadows. "I've got it, they're here for me anyway," I say, glancing at the already fading silver Voyance Rune. I grab my precious short sword, which I take with me everywhere, that was against the chair I was in on my way out of the living room.

I glance through the peep hole in the door before opening it. Dumbledore stands outside, and sitting in the branches of the tree I see Pater, the warlock who seemed to like stalking me. He may be cute, but after several months of him, he's getting annoying. Dumbledore smiles kindly at me, not noticing I wasn't looking at him. "Good morning Ms. Nightcross. I've come to escort you to Diagon Alley to get your school stuff," the old wizard says, peering at the sword on my back. "Diagon what? Oh, never mind, it doesn't matter. I'll be right back, I just need to tell my parents I'm going," I say, turning around. And grab my stele, I add silently. "I'll be here, and I suggest you leave your, uh, sword," Mr. Long beard says to my back. I grunt, deciding to glamour it. The Silent Brothers have left when I go into the living room to retrieve my stele. "Its Dumbledore, he's here to take me to get school supplies," I tell Momma, as Dad left with the Brothers. "Ok, stay safe, and don't let your guard down," she tells me, and I smile. After glamouring my weapon, I give her a quick hug and walk back outside to Mr. Long beard. "So, how are we getting to Diagon what's-it-called?" I ask, peering around for a portal or car. "Ms. Nightcross, you will learn how most wizards get places. Now, hold tight to my arm," he informs me briskly. Wholely confused, I grip his forearm. A moment later, the old wizard turns slightly and, with a loud POP, we both get sucked into nothingness.

It feels similar to portal travel, just I can't see anything. My chest aches for air, but this is familiar from portaling to Idris on many occasions. A few seconds later, my feet slam into the ground. Hard. I don't even wince as I look at my surroundings. My hand still clutches Dumbledore's arm, and I let go. We're in a shabby building, and all the other people in here with us are in black or dark colored robes. "This is the Leaky Cauldron, we have to pass through it to get to Diagon Alley. I'm quite pleased to see your doing fine after apperating for the first time," my companion says simply. He leads the way through the bar while I struggle to remember where I'd seen that name. Then it hits me. Just under a year ago, when my parents and I were going to the Bone Bar to see the Silent Brothers. I gasp, and run to catch up with the old man who had "apperated" me here. He leads me outside where there's a small lot with a brick wall. I'm about to ask what we're doing here when he pulls out a long, bony stick. He taps what appears to be a random brick. The brick wall starts shifting, revealing a street behind it. I blink in astonishment as a doorway appears where there used to be thick bricks. Along the streets, I see many shops selling all sorts of things. Mr. Long beard pulls out a sheet of parchment and hands it to me, striding through the doorway. I follow, glancing curiously at the parchment. Its a list of many things I've never heard of, so they must be for the wizarding world.

We walk for a few minutes before Mr. Long beard asks me, "the first thing you need is a wand. To Ollivander's we go." He strides away, and I follow, guessing that the stick he used to open the doorway before was his wand. We enter a old shop and a man just as old comes up to us, smiling. "This young lady needs a wand, shall you help her while I get her books?" Mr. Long beard says, already leaving the shop. "I'm Naila, nice to meet you," I say, smiling slightly. The old man looks at me and nods, "and you, Naila. I'm Mr. Ollivander. Hold out your wand arm, if you would." Bewildered, I hold out my left arm as he pulls out a tape measure. He takes so many measurements I can't even keep track. After a moment, he disappears into the shelves full of boxes, most likely holding wands. Mr. Ollivander comes back and hands me a wand while saying, "willow, nine and a half inches, unicorn hair, give it a try." I take the wand and feel a strange sensation. Flicking my hand ever so slightly, blue and yellow sparks shoot from the tip. With a satisfied nod, Mr. Ollivander takes the wand back and boxes it up. I sit down in the chair to wait for Mr. Long beard and finger the hilt of my short sword. Dad never told me the name, I'd have to ask him sometime.

Some time later, and after several more young witches and wizards get their wands, Mr. Long beard comes back holding a cauldron full of books, scales, and other stuff. After paying for my wand, he leads me to a shop filled with different animals. "What are we doing here?" I inquiry, looking around the store. "To get you a pet, of course," My companion replies, and adds, "have a look around. You can pick any of them, I'll wait here for you." With a nod, I walk away from him and towards the cats. I remember from the letter that I can have an owl, a cat, a toad, or a rat. I'm never getting a rat, as it could just be an intoxicated vampire, and toads are pointless. I don't understand why anyone would want an owl, which leaves me to get a cat, which aren't that bad. I stroll through the cats, glancing at them occasionally. Its quite boring, until a black kitten hisses at me, swiping his paw out over the shelf. I small and walk over, looking at him closely. "Hello little one, you have the heart of a shadowhunter, don't you?" I whisper, petting his tiny head gently. Instead of purring like most cats, this little kitten just glares at me. I can see the happiness at being loved on in his eyes, and giggle. "You're the one, I'll call you Nightmere," I say, lookin into his green eyes. At the sound of his new name, the kitten jumps into my arms, wrapping his tail around my wrist. I wander through the shop, heading back to Mr. Long beard. When I find him, he nods approvingly at Nightmere and pays the lady at the counter. We leave the store and I breathe a sigh of relief, cuddling my new kitten to my chest.

My relief doesn't last long, however. The girl with bushy brown hair from a year ago sees Mr. Long beard and walks towards us. "Good day, Professor!" she gleefully says. I scowl at her and pet Nightmere's head as he starts to growl at her. She glances at me and her eyes show fear mixed with surprise. My scowl deepens as Mr. Long beard says, "good day to you, Ms. Granger. This is the new student in your year you agreed to mentor." She listen to him then a startled yet smug look takes over as she gives me the once over. "Of course, Professor Dumbledore. But only if she promises not to cut me." I sneer, "only if you mentor me well," and finger the tip of my glamoured sword in its sheath. She laughs hesitantly, "Um, duh! Why else would Professor Dumbledore ask me?" She then looks at Nightmere, "Is he going to stop that anytime soon?" I glance at Nightmere and smirk, "nope, he's already learning from me." I turn to tell Mr. Long beard I should be getting home, but he's gone. She turns and, noticing, points to the cafe behind me, "he went in there." I shrug, "I'd have found him without your help. I'm Naila, by the way." I would offer to shake hands, but one was hold Nightmare and the other was holding my wand box. "Well, Naila, my name is Hermione Granger, meet me in the Hogwarts library on the first Saterday after we return to Hogwarts and we'll get started catching you up. Oh, and watch out for Professor Snape, he was just pure evil after he showed up to the great hall with pink robes. Something tells me he isn't going too happy about having a student show up in the second year." She turns and heads the building with the sign Gringotts. "Hey Hermione, wanna know something?" I call, just bursting to tell someone. She pauses and turns back around, "Um sure?" I smile sweetly, "first off, I don't have any clue where the library is. And second, I believe his pink robes had something to do with me." She stares blankly, "what do you mean?" She asks now curiously. "Oh, just that I've discovered that untrained witches and wizards can't control their magic, especially when emotions come into play. And let's say he might have been prying into my personal life when he came to my house in May," I reply, smirking again. "Oh my!" She nearly doubles over trying to stop laughing, but is unsuccessful. "Dumbledore, on the other hand, was quite pleasant to have over. After the shock of learning I was indeed a witch," I say, turning to go get Mr. Long beard to take me back. She abruptly stops laughing, "Wait, you have muggle parents too?" I look back over my shoulder at her as Nightmere hisses at her, "muggles?" "None magical people." I hesitate, unsure if runes counted as magic. "Um, I guess so. Why, is that bad?" "NO! I was just wondering why Dumbledore and Snape would visit you when you haven't started school yet, must be because you came a year late." I giggle to myself, "or maybe I'm just special." Turning back to the cafe again, I manage to get Nightmere to shut up. She mutters something I don't hear then, "I'll see you on the train, I guess. Bye Naila." I shrug, not turning around, and walk towards the cafe. She's not going to be easy to get along with, saying as she reminds me so much of K. I'm definitely not telling my parents about being mentored by a mundane.


	2. Train-Riding Demon?

"NAILA HURRY UP, YOU'RE GOING TO MISS THE TRAIN!" Dad calls up the stairs. Slamming my truck closed and grabbing Nightmere off my pillow, I walk out of my room. "Coming!" I yell, pulling my 12 pound trunk effortlessly behind me. Nightmere stretches in my arms and blinks his green eyes at me, obviously upset I disturbed his slumber. Smiling, I hop down the stairs, three at a time, with my short sword, Tinea, strapped to my back. I remember how Momma said it got its name, and giggle as I reach the bottom of the stairs. Heading straight for the front door, I just hope its not Pater making the portal to Kings Cross. I open the door and stop in my tracks, making Nightmere scratch my leather jacket. Of course its Pater, he's the High Warlock of London. That's the reason my parents, and everyone else, didn't try to get him to stop stalking me. Mentally smacking my head, I walk over and stand next to Nick, who'll be going to the station to make sure I catch the train all right. Giving his fingers a final snap, Pater winks at me and sinks into the shadow of the tree. MY tree. Ignoring his red warlock eyes, I hand the cat, still clawing my jacket, to Nick. He doesn't say anything, but his fingers trail across my wrist and I roll my eyes. He still hasn't given up on me, saying as I was still only 12, but at least he left me alone about it. I clutch my trunk and step through the portal, Nick at my side.

The feeling's familiar, and its over quickly. Seeing all the mundanes swarming the station, I wish we'd thought to use glamours. We're lucky they're too busy to notice us appear out of nowhere, though. "What platform do you need, again?" Nick asks, glancing at the numbers. "9 3/4," I reply, having memorized it. "Well, I see 9, and I see 10, but not," he starts, but stops. And I know exactly why. We both stare at the barrier between the two platforms. There's quite a large family of redheads standing together in front of it(with a black haired kid among them), but that's not what we're looking at. Instead, we're looking through the barrier. The mundanes walk right past it, except the redheaded family, but even they don't seem to see through it. "I believe we found where you're supposed to go," Nick states, turning to me. I smile at him. "Yeah, thanks Nick," I answer, taking Nightmare. "I'll see you at Christmas," he calls to me as I walk towards the family, who are pairing up.

"Is this the way to platform 9 3/4?" I ask, setting my trunk down for a moment. The older woman, I'm guessing the mother, pauses mid sentence and turns to me. "Why, yes. Are you starting Hogwarts this year?" she answers me, adding a question of her own. "Um, yeah, I was supposed to start last year," I say, petting Nightmere gently. "Well, I'm Mrs. Weasley. Where, may I ask, are your parents?" the lady questions, glancing around as if expecting to appear out of nowhere. I shake my head, "they couldn't make it, thanks for the help Mrs. Weasley." More like Mrs. Ubermun, I add silently, grabbing my trunk again. She says something more, but I don't pay attention as I walk towards the doorway in the barrier. I step through right as a pair of the redheads run at it. Shaking my head, I walk towards the gleaming scarlet train. I climb onto the train just as the whistle blows. I'm not even out of breathe from lugging my heavy(ish) trunk with me. I stroll down the aisle, glancing into each compartment. After going down almost the entire length of the train car, I find a compartment with only one person in it. She's a blonde, around a year younger than me, and reading some magazine. "Mind if I sit here?" I ask, nudging Nightmere off my face. The girl nods, not looking up. Easily lifting my trunk onto the shelf, I pull out my copy of the Shadowhunter Codex, glamoured of course.

Some time later, my censor vibrates psoftly in my jacket pocket. I look up and close my book, shoving my kitten off my lap and standing up. With a glance at the mundane girl I'm sharing the compartment with, I slip out into the aisle. One hand on my censor and the other gripped on the handle of a seraph blade, I make my way slowly down the train. I glance into each compartment I pass, but only long enough to decide the demon isn't in it. The censor buzzes more violently and I know I'm approaching the demon. I reach a compartment with three mundanes, two clearly asleep, and spot the demon hiding in the corner. I stand stock still for just a moment, but that's long enough for the demon to leap at the third mundane. Instinct takes over and I thrust the door open, pulling out my seraph blade and saying calmly, "Raphael." I swing Raphael at the demon, slashing it in two, but I'm too late. The mundane, who I now recognize as Hermione, is staring at the spot where the demon was just a moment before. I turn to leave, but pause to make sure she's alright. "Hermione? You ok?" I ask, looking back over my shoulder. She stutters, "I...I... What was that?" While she is still looking between the window and where the demon vanished. I shrug, "something that would've killed you had I not come by." I turn and walk out of the compartment. "Wait! What do you mean? I have seen many things like that and that was the first one to do anything like..." Her voice fades. I freeze at her words and turn slowly around. "You've seen many of them?" I demand, my voice shaking just the slightest. She nods hesitatantly, "ever since I was nine I have been seeing them all kinds of places." Uh, oh, I think. "W..what do you mean?" I ask, already knowing. A mundie with the Sight, just what I need. "It's kind of like they follow me, but when I try to point them out to anyone they think I'm crazy, so I finally just accepted I was seeing things. It's kind of nice to know that I'm not the only able to see them." She stops to think, "like last year, while Harry, Ron, and I were trying to get, um, something, I saw one in the corner while we were playing wizard chess." By the Angel, I've got to tell the Clave. "Don't worry, you're not seeing things. There're hundreds of people who see them. I'll keep them off you for now. And, what's wizard chess?" I say, finger Tinea's hilt. "Oh it's basically just a magic version of chess where the pieces move by themselves. You'll find out as soon as Ron or Harry breaks out Ron's board." She chuckles as if at a memory. I scrunch my eyebrows together, "chess?" She looks confused, "you don't know what chess is?" I shrug again, "never heard of it." She gasps, "um, it's, um, a board game. There really isn't a better way to explain it without a board." I shake my head in confusion and mutter, "mundanes make no sense," before leaving the apartment, hoping she doesn't follow. Unfortunately, she does. "What is a mundane?" I groan and reply without stopping, "people like you." She stops to contemplate before calling "wouldn't that apply to you as well then?" My hand slips to one of my daggers as I reply, "no, it applies to anyone who can't, or shouldn't be able to, see demons." With that, I slip into my compartment. She mutters, "does that mean that thing was a demon?" before heading back to her compartment.

It takes me a moment to see Blondie's gone, and when I do I lower the curtains on the door. I grab my robes and change quickly. Sitting down by Nightmere again, I open one of my school books, all of which I've already read. I don't feel hungry, nor do I notice as it gets darker. When the mundie returns, I glance up from my book. "I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Luna," she says, sitting down opposite me. "Naila," I respond, returning to my book. "That's a pretty name," I hear her murmer, but pay her no heed. A few minutes later, however, she gasps, disrupting my reading. I look up for the second time to see her by the window, eyes wide. Sighing, I close my book and join her. I'm impressed by what I see. A huge castle looms ahead of us, seeming to glow in the night. Its probably the single most fascinating mundane thing I've seen. That is, until I look up to see a flying, or more like crashing, blue Ford Anglia.


	3. The Talking Hat

The train slowly rolls to a stop and everyone pushes to get off. I put Nightmere in his carrier and grab my wand. Ms. Loopy smiles at him before leaving the compartment. Scowling, I give Nightmere one of his treats and follow her out. I see Ms. Know-it-all and calmly move away. I have to jump down from the train, due to my short frame, but land lightly on my feet. The crowd pulls me away, and I'm glad my stele's in my pocket if I need it. A tall guy with a bushy brown beard is waving a lantern and calling, "firs' years, o'er here!" Remembering Mr. Long beard telling me to go with the first years, I make my way over. A first year girl, obviously from the redhead family I met earlier, sees me and slips towards me. "You're the one who asked Mum about the platform, aren't you?" she asks shyly. I nod and she continues, "didn't you say you were starting your second year?" I roll my eyes and reply, "and? I need to be sorted and it'd be kinda weird for a teacher to collect me from among the second years." She smiles and holds out her hand, "oh, that's makes sense. I'm Ginny, by the way." "Naila," I mumble with a shrug, following the tall guy as he led us down a slick path.

We reach a lake with several boats floating by the shore. "No more'n four to a boat," the man yells to us. If giants were real, I'd swear he was at least part giant, I think, climbing into a boat further from the shore than most. I'm joined shortly by Ms. Loopy, Ms. Red midget and some wide eyed, smiling boy with a camera. The smile and camera remind me of how K would always snap pictures of me when I wasn't expecting it, and then laughed with me at how I looked. Gripping Tinea, I forcibly push the memories away. There's no point dwelling on the past, and shadowhunters die every day fighting demons and downworlders. I don't even notice when the Hogwarts castle comes into view. Staring into the deepness of the lake, its only when Ms. Loopy touches my shoulder that I see we're nearing the shore. I stand up, not unbalancing the boat in the slightest, and watch the land come nearer. The first boats reach the shore and I jump the 2-3 feet from my boat. No one, except the others who were in the boat with me, notice as I land among the first years disembarking. Mr. Big beard lifts a lantern and leads us up to the school.

Mr. Big beard leads us to a small room and then leaves. Thinking about the possibility of them keeping us as prisoners, I finger my stele. Not much later, a lady with square glasses and a long green robe walks into the room. "I am Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, transfiguration teacher, and deputy headmistress at Hogwarts. In a moment, you will be sorted into your houses. There are 4 houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you're here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points gets awarded the House Cup. If you'll follow me," she says, leading the way out. Everyone shuffles behind her, staying clear of me once there's room. Well, all except Ms. Loony and Ms. Red midget stay clear of me. The two of them stick close to my sides, which both annoys and confuses me. We step through a set of double doors into what I'm sure is the Great Hall, seeing as I read about it each of the several times I read Hogwarts: A History. I glance up at the ceiling and almost, almost, gasp. I hear many others actually gasp when they see the ceiling, and I explain, "its enchanted to look just like the sky outside." I'm walking right past Ms. Know-it-all as I say this, but don't bother turning my head.

McGonagall stops by an old, wrinkled hat sitting on a stool. As me and all the first years gather between two of the tables, a rip at the bottom of the hat opens and the hat bursts into song. I don't understand what it sings, all I gather is that Gryffindor is for the brave, Hufflepuff for the loyal, Ravenclaw for the intelligent, and Slytherin for the sly and cunning. I could be in any of those I think as the hat's song ends. McGonagall unrolls a piece of parchment, but doesn't look at it. "Before we begin with the first years, we have a student who couldn't attend last year and needs to be sorted. She's in second year, and will be taking classes with her fellow second years. Do not think she'll stay behind for long, as Ms. Hermione Granger has kindly agreed to tutor her." I roll my eyes when she says Ms. Know-it-all agreed kindly. "Naila Nightcross, if you would come forward," Mrs. Stern face calls, finally reading from the parchment. My trained senses let me hear people making fun of my name, but it makes no difference to me. I walk up to the Professor and sit on the stool, fingering a seraph blade as she lowers the old hat onto my head.

I nearly jump when the hat starts speaking to my mind. "Quite intelligent, no doubt. And extremely loyal, yes. But also cunning, very very cunning. And sly too. And adding to that mix is bravery. Difficult, very difficult. Where to go? The sly and cunning Slytherins or the loyal Hufflepuffs? Intelligent Ravenclaws or brave Gryffindors? Its uncommon for one single person to posses all the traits. Not unheard off, but definitely uncommon. Hmm, where to put you? Four houses, one person. One mind. One body. One soul. I see great sadness in your past, and a great revenge already planned. Those go to Slytherin, but you'd never betray someone's trust, which goes directly to Hufflepuff. Your intelligence is wide, and always growing. But outweighing all three, not by much, is your bravery. You'll never shrink from danger. And that is why I must put you in, GRYFFINDOR!!" The hat yells the last word out loud. The table with Ms. Know-it-all and the redheads cheer loudly and clap widely. I sigh and take a seat close enough to Ms. Know-it-all that I can ask any questions, but far enough away that she hopefully doesn't.

I watch as Ms. Red midget and the boy who was in the boat with us get sorted into Gryffindor, and Ms. Loony into Ravenclaw, but after that I zone out. I don't even pay attention while I eat random foods, some I'd never seen before. After everyone's well fed, we follow behind the prefects to our house common rooms. I listen to the password, quickly storing it to memory, as we walk through the portrait hole. Everything was so new and confusing, I decided to unpack my stuff and then find the library. After all, I'm a second year and I haven't even tried a single spell.

I don't do much with unpacking, as several of my items I'd have to glamour before setting up. I take out the picture of K putting his gift on me taken on my seventh birthday. My last birthday he lived to see. I feel the tears forming in my eyes as I place the picture on my bedside table. I pull my phone out of my trunk and type a quick message to Dad, but when I go to send it my phone glitches out and shuts off. Throwing the phone onto my new bed, I turn to see Ms. Know-it-all enter the dormitory. She smiles and heads to the bed closest to mine, "I see you have found you stuff?" she begins unpacking the trunk at the base of her bed. "Yeah, can you do me a favor?" I reply, shifting slightly to hide my picture from her view, knowing she would ask. She pauses slightly, "Yeah, what do you mean?" She swiftly places a stack of about seven books on her bedside table. I smile slightly at her stack of books, "can you show me to the library? I want to try a few spells before starting classes." She bolts upright with a wide toothy grin on her face, "Of course! Follow me!" She heads out of the dormitory at a jog. I follow swiftly, glad she didn't notice the picture of me and K. Not yet, at least.


	4. Spells in the Library

As I follow Ms. Know-it-all through corridor after corridor, I commit every turn, every staircase, to memory. I think back over some of the spells I want to try and pull my wand out curiously. "So how does a wand do magic?" I ask, examining each inch of the wood. She ponders for a moment, "It more acts as a guide then creates magic itself. It has to do with the core being from a magical creature. The magic from you travels through the core and out the wand." My brows crinkle as I think about this, "so the core, unicorn hair for example, just conducts your magic into the spell? So basically, you could cast magic without a wand, if it came to that?" "Theoretically, yes. But unfortunately after witches and wizards have finish training, it takes greater concentration than most of full developed witches can muster." Her eyes light up as she prepares to launch into an explanation. Rolling my eyes, I ask a different question, "is the library far?" She heads down a TURNING staircase, "nope, just a little further." Smirking, I jog towards the staircase and jump, landing lightly beside her. "When Hogwarts: A History said the staircases moved, I didn't think it was true," I comment. She laughed lightly, "So did I, until Percy warned us on the way to the dormitorys." She heads through a massive doorway and stops once through. I follow behind her and giggle with joy at the size of the library. She smiles at me then grabs a random book and sits down to read at a table.

While Ms. Know-it-all reads, I carefully place Tinea, glamoured, on the table beside her. Checking to make sure I still had plenty of weapons in my belt, I step into an open space. My mind flickers back to when I was reading The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1. Deciding to try transfiguring something first, I cast about for something small. Failing to find anything, I pull one of my daggers from my belt and study it. Not the toothpick that's suggested to start with, but I'll manage. "Hermione? Could you hold this for me?" I ask, twirling the dagger. She looks up and stares at my dagger, "that's the one you threatened me with, isn't it?" I laugh at her expression, "no! That one got melted, I think. Or maybe it was thrown out my window, I can't be sure. You saw what happened on the train, I never go anywhere without a weapon." She reaches out slowly, "maybe I should take a leaf out of your book, what with those things following me and all." She picks up the dagger and studies it. "Just hold it out, I'll make sure your safe. At least while we're at school," I reply. She holds it firmly by the handle out in front of her and waits for me to make my move. Smiling, I lift my wand and focus on the image of a vampire doll I had when I was 5. With a small flick and a mumbled word, it changes into the doll, leaving the sharp point as the fangs. She nods her head approvingly then her eyes dart behind me and they grow wide with fear. She drops the doll and scurries under her table. I turn around and sigh, following Ms. Know-it-all back to the table quickly. Instead of joining her under the table, though, I grab Tinea from her sheath. Turning back towards the window with a demon crawling through, I sprint across the library. Before the idiot demon sees me, I reach out with Tinea and cut off a limb, though I don't know which. It screeches and jumps at me, clawing my right arm badly. I grimace and thrust my left arm forward, impailing the filthy creature. With a final cry, it disappears, leaving me with my bleeding arm.

Ms. Know-it-all crawls out from under and seeing my arm says "You are bleeding, you should get to the hospital wing, madam Pomfry should be able to fix that easily." She starts to head out of the library. "It'll be fine, it's just a scratch. Are you prone to having demons come to you or something?" I say, applying a quick but neat iratze to my arm while she wasn't looking. She looks around and seeing no one else says "I don't know why, but like I said before it's as if they follow me, always trying to get me." She lowers her right sleeve from her shoulder to reveal a long fading scar. "One gave me this about a week before I got my Hogwarts letter." My eyes widen, but I hide my surprise and fear quickly. "I'll have to inform the Clave," I mutter, slipping my beloved short sword back into her sheath carefully. Out loud I say, "how did the demon give you that scar?" She takes a deep breath, "It's claws were really long and it cut so deep I had to come up with a story so I didn't end up in a mental institution. I told my mom I fell on a piece of metal under the tree in our backyard, but I don't think she believed me." She winces as she relives the memory. "By the Angel, let me take a look at it, will you?" I ask carefully. She hesitates, "um, sure. But not here." My eyes close halfway as I try to decide how important it was, "fine, where and when?" She pauses to think, then decides "after we get back to our dormitories." She pulls her sleeve back up realizing it's been down the entire time. I nod and walk back towards the open space and pull my wand out. "You can keep the doll, by the way," I tell her.

I take out a seraph blade and set it on the floor, hoping to levitate it. "Ok, um, thanks." She picks up the book and doll then follows. Closing my eyes, I mutter, "wingardium leviosa." "That's not.. Oh never mind." She buries her nose her book. Smirking, I swish my wand and repeat myself, ending with a flick. The blade slowly lifts, staying the same level as my wand tip. It gets a couple inches before falling with a small thud. Sighing, I try again and lift it a foot without it falling. Smirking wider, I point my wand towards Ms. Know-it-all's book. Just before it bumps the book, I stop it. Instead of hitting her book with it like I was gonna, I maneuver the blade up from below the book. She lifts it up higher and turns so that her back is facing me. Laughing, I bring the blade to hover above her head, hoping to figure out what book it was. She starts shaking with laughter, "really Naila? You are supposed to be learning, NOT trying to get a reaction out of me!" She closes the book, which turns out to be Twilight, and turns to glare at me unsuccessfully. "Well what's the point of learning if I don't know whether or not I'm doing it right. Oh, and my whole family hates that book," I reply, adding silently because of the glittering vampires. She sticks her tongue out and reaches up to shove the seraph blade away from her."Too bad! I like it!" I roll my eyes and lower the blade before sticking it back into my belt. "I'm gonna try a harder spell," I say, walking towards the many shelves of books. She immediately goes back to her book with a huge grin on her face.

After a few minutes of searching, and gazing longingly at a lovely book in the restricted section, I return with a confusing looking book for sixth years. I place it down on the table and flip it open, scrolling through for an interesting spell. I find the water making spell and study the instructions carefully. Satisfied I know what I'm doing, I turn to Ms. Know-it-all and lift my wand. Aiming over the top of her book, I say clearly, "aguamenti." At first just a few drops trickle out, but then they turn into a steady stream of water. She jumps and whisper-yells, "HEY!" as the water hits her. She drops her book on the table and pulls out her wand. I slow the water, laughing, and it stops. "What was that for?" She demands. Then she mutters an incantation under her breath that somehow dries her off. I shrug, "for fun, I guess. And there weren't any other cool looking spells in the book." She glares at me then notices the book and pretends to wander over to look at it, she gasps. "How...how... How on this green earth were you able to do a sixth year spell?" I blink, caught off guard, and reply, "I studied the instructions for a moment, and then followed them exactly." She stares at me with wonder. Smiling slightly, I put Tinea's sheath onto my back and head for the door, "let's go, I'm getting bored of casting spells." She catches up quickly and waits for a staircase to finish turning back. Rolling my eyes for the I don't even know what time tonight, I jump onto the staircase and leave her slightly behind as I return the way we came.

At some point, Ms. Know-it-all catches back up to me, surprisingly. We reach the portrait of the fat lady and I narrow my eyes, trying to come up with a logical explanation for why she's moving and talking. Ms. Know-it-all sees my face and laughs before saying "Wattlebird, and please stop singing." The fat lady glares at her before swinging open with a, "my singing is just fine." I smile at my companion for saving me from listening to her singing while I contemplated things. We walk through and are greeted with chaos. And one of the redheads along with the black haired kid from kings cross are pacing just within the opening. They stop when they see Ms. Know-it-all, "Hey Hermi—bloody hell, why are you all wet?" The redhead exclaims. The black haired kid looks at me and I slightly see a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Ms. Know-it-all looks down at her robes and, seeing that she missed the bottom half from my experiment, points at me and says "Ask the new girl." I smirk, "I was only trying something." "Uh-huh." She turns to them now with fury in her eyes, "Ronald Billius Weasley and Harry James Potter, why were you two not at the feast, or on the train for that matter?" She looks like she is about to take them out. "Hermione, remember what you told me in the library?" I say, deciding I'd waited long enough to exam her demon injury. She jerks her head to look at me, "Oh, yeah, here is good I guess, these two need to cough up why they decided to skip his," jabs her finger at Ronald, "Sister's sorting." She walks over to a chair, sits down, and lowers her sleeve to reveal the scar, Mr. Thunderhead and Ronald gasp when they see it. I follow her and crouch down, looking closely at it. The two boys try to join me, and I shoot them death glares, "this isn't something that involves you." They freeze at my tone, and I turn back to Ms. Know-it-all's scar. "How'd you get this cared for?" "My mum took me to the hospital and they put 19 stitches in, it hurt a lot and the dissolvable stitches kept disappearing the moment they put them in so they had to switch to using actual thread and staples to boot. It hurt so much, I didn't know if it was even gonna close." She shivers at the thought. I roll my eyes at my own foolishness, of course a mundane would go to the doctor. Looking closer, I stifle a gasp at the beginning of the scar. "Has that always been there?" I ask, pointing at the black speck. She looks and shakes her head slowly. "This can't be good," I mutter quietly and add a bit louder, "let me talk with my parents, they know more about this kind of stuff than me. Later I need you to try and describe the, um, creature that scratched you." "Um, ok." She pulls her sleeve back up and turns to Mr. Thunderhead and Ronald, "Now really guys, why weren't you at the feast?" I head up to the girls' dormitory, not interested at their explanation. After dropping my weapons belt into my trunk, putting Tinea on my bedside table beside the picture frame, and applying a better iratze, I drop onto my bed and slip into an uneasy sleep.


	5. Classes... And Draco Malfoy

"Naila, you're needed." I blink open my eyes to see a hazy orange mist surrounding me. Angel Raziel looks down at me and a feather from his left wing touches the mist next to me. The golden-haired gold-eyed boy he'd shown me every time appeared, throwing knives at a target. A dark haired kid, Alec if I remember correctly, looks on from the corner. I think I hear Alec say, "Jace," in exasperation. The golden-haired one, Jace, turns, a sadness I'd only ever felt flashing across his face for a single moment. "What now, Alec?" he asks, scowling. Raziel moves his wing and looks at me as the image dissolves. "That's Jace Wayland, the one my parents said are living with the Lightwoods, isn't?" I ask, brow furrowed in confusion. The angel nods slowly, shining bright. "You know what's going on with him, right now you're his only family that can help him through it." I go to ask a question when out of nowhere I hear, "Naila, is this your cat?"

I jerk awake and lay my arm across my face groggily. "Really Hermione, of course its my cat. Did you have to wake me?" I mumble, shoving down my roasting hot blanket. "Why's he on me? I thought he hated me," she complains. Rolling my eyes to myself, I suppress a yawn. "He's learned to stay off my bed, and those two pansycakes were up half the night. Where was he supposed to sleep?" I say, motioning towards the other beds in the dorm. "Come here, Nightmare," I add as an after thought. "Oh, well anyway, we need to get ready and head down for breakfast," Ms. Know-it-all informs me. Sighing, I sit up and rub Nightmare's back with my toe. After a quick glance at my stiff arm, I grab my stele from beside my pillow and apply a small iratze to heal it the rest of the way. Ms. Know-it-all's probably gonna ask a question so I stand up and grab a pair of dark green leggings, a blue tank top, and my thinner leather jacket to change into. Turning my back to the rest of the dorm, I slip off my blood stained shirt from the night before and pull on the fresh clothes. Narrowing my eyes at the torn sleeve of my robe, I grab one of my other pairs and toss it into my trunk. I slip on my boots and put on my weapons belt, oblivious to Ms. Know-it-all watching. Sticking my stele in my belt, my wand in my pocket, and grabbing my books in my arms, I leave the dormitory and make my way back the way I'd come the night before from the Great Hall.

According to the ceiling of the Great Hall as I eat my breakfast, its a bright and sunny morning. People trickle in and out of the Hall, most older students studying me for a moment. I shrug off their stares, not caring what they think of me. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher comes in shortly after me, beaming more than Nick even. A quick once-over tells me all I need to know: Gildory Lockhart is not a shadowhunter, nor a downworlder, meaning there's no way he's done all the things his books say he's done. No mundane, with or without magic, could do all that. I glance up at the teachers' table and try to remember all I overheard others at the Griffendor table saying about the teachers the night before. Professor Snape had turned up to the end of year feast in hot pink robes, gave detention to anyone who mentioned it, and was apparently the Potions Master. Next to him sits Mr. Big beard, whom I learned is just the gamekeeper and not a teacher. I hear someone approach and turn around to see Ms. Know-it-all, Mr. Thunderhead, and Ronald. The two boys sit across from me while Ms. Know-it-all takes the empty seat on my right. While they start talking and Ronald starts stuffing his face, I finger the hilt of a dagger and stare at my plate, lost in thought.

"So Hermione, do we get to know the new girl's name?" Mr. Thunderhead asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Oh, yes. Harry, Ron, this is Naila. Naila, Harry and Ron," Ms. Know-it-all says quickly before returning to her book. Mrs. Stern face pauses behind me and hands out our course schedules. After a quick glance at both mine and Ms. Know-it-all's, I discover I'm stuck with her all day, every day. A bell rings and the four of us, the boys sadly having matching schedules, grab our stuff and head for our first class. As we make our way to the greenhouses, I see Mr. Bright teeth and Mrs. Plant lady, our Herbology teacher, striding toward us. "Oh, hello there!" Mr. Bright teeth calls, beaming at us widely. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels . . ." Luckily, Mrs. Plant lady interrupts him. "Greenhouse three today, chaps!" I block out the murmers as everyone makes their way to the correct greenhouse.

The classes pass quickly as I fight the urge to raise my hand for every question like Ms. Know-it-all. The mandrakes were somewhat annoying, but at least I didn't get stuck with pink fluffy muffs. In Transfiguration I had nearly as many buttons at the end of class as Ms. Know-it-all. She only beat me on that one because I kept zoning out. I eat lunch silently and listen to my three, unwanted, mundane companions bicker. Mr. Thunderhead has an incident with the camera kid and some blonde bully. I just stand to the side, with them but not with them. I smirk at the blonde kid as we pass him on our way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. He doesn't notice, but I'll make him eventually. Mr. Bright teeth gives us 54 question quiz on him, which I know all the answers to. We have 30 minutes, but I finish in 15, mainly because I had trouble keeping the ink off my hand. After he takes them up, he gives Ms. Know-it-all ten points for getting all the answers correct and never even sees that I even added extra. However, I snap to attention when he releases a cage of Cornish pixies. STUPID MUNDANE! WHY WOULD YOU BRING DOWNWORLDERS TO THE SCHOOL!? I fight the urge to scream at the idiot, and the desire to pull out a dagger or seraph blade. I scream random sounds in frustration, sending curse after hex after jinx from the books I'd read. The bell signals the end of class and I head for the door, until Mr. Bright teeth appoints us to round them up.

I follow Ms. Know-it-all, Mr. Thunderhead, and Mr. Eats-a-lot out of the classroom after we collect the pixies. I might have let slip some stuff about the Clave, but thankfully the mundanes didn't notice. I bump into Mr. Eats-a-lot and yelp in surprise. That's when I hear a laugh and sidestep the redheaded buffoon. And see the blonde bully from earlier. Up close I see his eyes are a wispy grey and my eyes scan the rest of him, deciding I could take him and his two goons with my left hand tied behind my back. "Would you look at that, the new mudblood found herself a mudblood friend. Oh, and a blood traitor, too," he sneers, making me want to slap him. I don't know what a mudblood is, and frankly don't care, but the way he says it makes it clear he's insulting me. If only he weren't a mundane. "Back off Malfoy, at least she has friends," Mr. Thunderhead replies angrily. Before either of them can do anything rash, Ms. Know-it-all and Mr. Eats-a-lot grab hold of Mr. Thunderhead, dragging him away. I lag behind, stepping close to Malfoy. "You may be cute, but I don't stand bullies, and I suggest you think twice before you try bullying me again. I'm trained with many weapons, and I could take you and your bodyguards single handed," I whisper, trailing my hand along his chest softly. Before he can reply, I follow after my mundane companions.

After dinner, I disappear into my dorm and pull out some parchment and a pen. I write a quick message for Grace, smiling softly. The message reads 'Hey Grace, I already miss you. Turns out there aren't even any downworlders going to this school. I've somehow gotten myself a guard duty. My silly mundane tutor has the Sight and has had demons after her since she was nine. Don't tell the Clave, though, I'm trying to figure it out and don't want to scare her. Ask my parents if it'll be ok for her to come home over the summer if I can't figure things out. I have an important question for you when I come back for Christmas. Can't wait to see you. -Naila'. I fold it up and set it on my bedside table, intending to send it to her as a fire message when I got time. I quickly change into my pj's and flop down on my bed, calling Nightmere up. He joins me, hesitantly at first, and curls up against my side, purring, as I slip into a deep but defiantly not dreamless sleep.


	6. Owls and Quidditch

I jerk awake, trying to focus on where I was. I blink my eyes as they adjust to the dark and look around. I sit up with a gasp as my eyes land on Valentine standing at the foot of my bed. "Valentine? What are you doing here?" I hiss, glancing over at the other three girls, sleeping peacefully. He smiles at me in the dark and I fight the urge to hug him, remembering how he'd told me to not anymore a few months ago. "Don't worry about the mundanes, they'll sleep on while we talk," he tells me, sitting on my bed. I nod, crawling towards him across my bed with a small smile. "I need your help," I say quietly. He looks at me steadily, almost affectionately, as he replies, "I'm here to help, you should know that by now. But first, I must ask, why has my little angel-demon come to this place, infested with foolish mundanes?" I gulp nervously, "I was sent a letter, and both the Silent Brothers and Inquisitor thought it best I come to investigate." Valentine nods understandingly. "My dear Naila, I know you need my help, but I must go now. Take care, I'm sure you can handle things yourself. I'll visit you soon, don't stop practicing," he says with a glace out the window as the moon rose higher. Before I can respond, he's gone, leaving me to fall back into an uneasy doze.

Some hours later I wake to Ms. Know-it-all rummaging around in her trunk. I sit up groggily, petting Nightmere lovingly. With a glance at the clock I realize its only 6:30. "Hey Hermione, what are you doing up so early?" I ask, swinging my legs off the bed. She spins around, surprised. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?" When I shake my head she continues, "Madam Hooch has been giving me private flying lessons every Saterday. I'm no good on a broom and have been trying to at least be able to use one in emergencies. Would you like to come?" she says, finishing up in her trunk. I shrug, "why not, I'm already up, might as well do something with my morning." Standing up, I grab jeans and a deep blue T-shirt and throw them on. I latch on my weapons belt, currently only armed with a few daggers and three seraph blades, and slip my stele through it. Grabbing my wand, I turn to Ms. Know-it-all, "lets go!"

As my bushy haired companion leads me through the castle and across the grounds I think about Valentine's visit. "Angel-demon" he'd called me, and it makes me feel proud. Having demon blood as well as extra angel blood coursing through my veins had helped me immensely over the years. I think of the small vial of each he'd given me for my eleventh birthday, at my request. I'm brought out of my thoughts when Ms. Know-it-all stops in front of a lady who held three broomsticks. The lady smiles at me, "I'm Madam Hooch, I teach youngsters to ride brooms and coach Quidditch games. I assume that since Ms. Granger has brought you that you're going to be taking a lesson with us today?" I nod, smiling politely, "yes ma'am." A moment later I'm standing over one of the brooms, my left arm held out, and feeling very foolish. "Up," I command, just as Madam Hooch had instructed. Without any resistance the broom jumps into my hand. Ms. Know-it-all glares at my success before giving up on her broom and just bending down to grab it. I smirk and slip a leg over my broom, following the teacher's example. When Madam Hooch blows her whistle for us to lift off, I kick against the ground and into the air. I hang suspended about a foot above the ground for a moment before angling my broom and going higher. Now at about ten feet, I straighten out and zoom forward, the broom flying smoothly above their heads. I fly around while Ms. Know-it-all struggles for maybe an hour before we head back up to the school, her shooting me glares repeatedly.

We sit at the Gryffindor table in the great hall for breakfast and are soon joined by Mr. Thunderhead and Mr. Eats-a-lot. After taking a sip of my drink, I turn to the boys. "When are Quidditch tryouts?" I ask curiously. The boys pause eating to glance at me. "8o'clock today," Mr. Thunderhead says after a slight pause. Mr. Eats-a-lot looks at me funny, "why do you care? Do you even know what Quidditch is?" I smirk at him, shrugging, before returning to my breakfast of eggs and sausage. After breakfast, I follow the boys down the the Quidditch pitch, much to their annoyance. Know-it-all Granger walks with me, trying and failing to make conversation. An older Gryffindor student stands in the middle of the pitch, several students surrounding him. Mr. Eats-a-lot and Ms. Know-it-all take seats in the stands while I continue on the the team captain with Mr. Thunderhead. "To those of you who don't know me, my name is Oliver Wood and I'm the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Those trying for Chaser stand over there, Beaters over there," the tall boy says, pointing to two spots. The redheaded twins and two other older boys go to the spot Oliver pointed to for the Beaters. I follow swiftly, daggers gently hitting against my legs. Oliver looks at me, eyes widened, as I stand defiantly with the others trying for Beater, the only female and the youngest. "Miss, you know you're with the Beaters, right?" he questions. I roll my eyes, "really? I thought this was the book club." He sputters, obviously taken aback, while the twins clap me on the back. "Well done with the sarcasm, sweety," they say in unison. I shrug my shoulders and when they still don't remove their hands, bring my elbows back into their stomachs swiftly. The stumble back, more in shock than pain, as Oliver starts instructing us on what to do.

Some time later, I hop off my broom, flipping my sweating hair over my shoulder and striding towards Ms. Know-it-all. "Tutoring session?" I suggest, tossing the broom to Oliver, several feet away. He catches it and stumbles back slightly in surprise. I ignore him and wait for Ms. Know-it-all's answer. "Not now, Naila, I've got homework to do. We can work on your tutoring tomorrow," she says, heading back towards the school. "I'll come with you, I need to do Snape's paper anyway," I reply, jogging lightly after her. She shrugs and continues in her way, not bothering to respond. I pull the letter for Grace from my pocket, along with my stele from my belt. I keep pace with Ms. Know-it-all as I place the stele the the letter, tracing the rune for fire in an attempt to send the fire message. The rune glows slightly in the paper for a moment before dimming, but nothing happens, just like the last two times. With a snarl, I thrust my stele back into my belt and look at Ms. Know-it-all. "Hermione, how do we send messages in this godforsaken school?" I demand, frustrated. She stops and turns to look at me, a gleam in her eyes. "By owl, come on I'll help you," she says brightly, taking my hand and dragging me away.

By the time we reach the Owlry Ms. Know-it-all is out of breathe. I glance at the owls as she calls a random one down to us. "You just tie the letter to the owl's leg and tell the owl who to take it to. They were raised specially for this, they can find almost anyone," she tells me, handing the owl over to me and calling another down for herself. "Here, I'll show you, I have a letter to send anyway," she says, tying a piece of paper to the owl's leg as she talks. Done attaching the letter, she pets the owl's head gently and says, "take this to Mr. Granger, please." The owl cocks its head and takes flight, flying from a window. I narrow my eyes suspiciously but attach my letter to the owl anyway. Feeling foolish for the second time today, I whisper to the owl, "please take this to Grace Appleshade for me." The bird blinks his beady eyes before taking off, leaving the school in a flurry of feathers. I shake my head in disbelief as I head for the library. The only thing on my mind as I walk is whether or not Grace will want to be my Parabatai.


	7. A Potion Debate

My mind whirls as I twist and turn with my blade. Tinea glows in the light coming from the approaching dawn. The wind rushes through the trees of the Forbidden Forest not far from me. I catch a glimpse of movement among the trees and freeze, both hoping and afraid that it's a werewolf. My keen senses help, but they aren't enough and I step closer to the forget. I know I shouldn't be outside the castle, much less thinking of entering the forest, but no one ever noticed my training in the hours before dawn, so why would they today. I hold Tinea steady, the sunlight glinting of the metal of her beautiful blade. Tightening my grip, I step into the trees, eyes scanning the surroundings. Upon entering instinct takes over as I whip around, slashing out with Tinea at the downworlder who had appeared behind me. The vampire jerks out of the way, hissing, as my blade draws blood at her neck. I snarl in reply, my own sound similar to that of a demon. The vampire stands stock still, eyes wide in shock and fear. Taking advantage, I rush towards her, right arm snatching around her throat and left holding Tinea across her chest. "Filthy downworlder, leave this school and its inhabitants alone. It is now under the protection of the Nephlim, my brothers and sisters ready to come at a moments notice. Tell all your friends, let them know there will be no more tormenting the mundanes at this school." With a final snarl, I toss the stunned vampire away, striding from the trees and returning to Gryffindor common room.

"It said dried nettle Hermione," I repeat myself yet again, exasperated. "No, I'm sure it said semi-dried nettle," she replies, smirking slightly. "Fine, how about we actually check the book before Professor Snape deducts point for us not even being started yet?" I suggest, pulling my book from my bag as I speak. My potions partner sighs and leans over as I find the right page, taking my turn to smirk. Ms. Know-it-all scowls at me before grabbing the right ingredient and tossing them into the mortar. Rolling my eyes, I shut the book and grab three putter-fish eyes to join the nettles. She continues to scowl as I crush the ingredients, her eyes watching our cauldron nervously. I shove the mortar towards her and pull out my wand, saying as I do so, "add two measures to the cauldron, and try not to doubt me again. Once she's done, I move my wand, my lips shaping words but not sound coming out. The fire under the cauldron springs to life and I start the timer. Ms. Know-it-all stares at me, eyes wide."How'd you do that?" she whispers, her eyes flickering towards the fire. "Magic, duh, now if you'd wave your wand we can clean up and wait for an hour," I retort as the timer chimes 20 seconds.

I watch the Malfoy kid and his partner across the room as Ms. Know-it-all and I wait for our potion to be ready for us to continue. She may hate having double potions, especially with the Slytherins, but I find it the perfect time to observe the mundanes. Grey eyes lock with mine and I don't look away, daring him to first. Ms. Know-it-all follows my gaze and gasps, clutching my arm. "Naila, you don't want to get into anything with Malfoy. He's untrustworthy and a bully," she tells me, but I don't look away. "What's his first name?" I ask curiously, shrugging her hand off my arm. "W...what? Why do you care? I'm telling you, he'll do nothing but hurt you, please don't do anything," she says, and I can tell she's upset. My voice hardens when I answer her, but my dark blue eyes never leave the stormy grey ones. "His name, Hermione. Trust me when I say he can't hurt me, you saw what I've done." I feel Ms. Know-it-all fold in on herself in defeat, "his name's Draco. He tortures younger kids, and older too, he despises muggleborns like us, thinks anyone one outside Slytherin is less than him, and is a player." While the male eyes show only hatred and anger, the female ones, mine, search deeper, seeing much more. "I understand your concern, but he won't gain anything from me if he tries. And besides, he's kinda cute," I snap back, adding silently, and I've never met a mundane like him. Perhaps he could Ascend, be given reason to despise all these people. Before my partner can respond, our timer goes off and we turn back to the potion.

I toss a bat spleen into the cauldron while Ms. Know-it-all reaches out with a stirrer, muttering, "four times clockwise, that's all." I snatch at the utensil, grabbing her wrist just in time. "Anti-clockwise," I snarl. "Its clockwise, Naila, let go of my wrist," she snaps, trying to jerk away. "No, I'm not letting go, let me stir it correctly, you can do the fire and wave your wand to finish it," I reply, prying her fingers from the handle. "Fine, mess up our work, I won't take the blame," Ms. Know-it-all says angrily, releasing her hold. I nod my head in agreement, "any and all blame will rest on my shoulders alone. But, so will any and all glory, as well." I flick my wrist and stir the potion four times in a counter-clockwise motion. Finished with my part, I step back and let Ms. Know-it-all lower the heat of the flame. 30 seconds later, I flick my wand and extinguish the fire while my partner waves her wand over the cauldron to complete the potion. I stopper a bottle of the solution and take it to Professor Snape, leaving Ms. Know-it-all to clean up. I set it on his desk and turn to go, but he holds up a finger for me to wait. "Nightcross, a little birdie told me you're the reason my robes were pink last year. If try anything like that again, I will have you expelled." The bell rings just as he finishes and I walk away, ignoring his threat. I pass the Malfoy kid on my way and pause for just a moment. "If you're ever in need of a good grade, in any class, I'm willing to put things aside and help you, Draco," I tell him softly before heading towards the library to do some homework.


	8. The Attack on Halloween

I flash across the sky above the Quidittch pitch, makeshift bat raised and scanning the sky for the balls I'd enchanted. One of them zooms at me and I swing the bat, knocking the ball away and making the school's broom sway dangerously. Having been chosen as just a backup beater I got stuck training on my own, with only Ms. Know-it-all to tell me if I do something wrong. Which, of course, she doesn't as she hates and doesn't understand the sport. Luckily I've already read "Quidittch Through the Ages" so many times I could pass quiz on it in my sleep. Another of my enchanted wooden bludgers comes at me and I duck, waving my wand and mutter a spell to hold both of them in place. I'm painfully aware of how unprotected I am currently with only a single seraph blade and about three daggers stuck in my belt. I land lightly on the ground and put the wooden bludgers into a sack. Ms. Know-it-all comes over and I hand her the broom, leaving her behind as I head to the Great Hall to eat something. She lets out an annoyed sigh and returns the broom to the shed before running after me.

I take a bite of toast right as the many owls start flying in with the mail. Since it's already been over a month I'm getting used to this happening on a daily basis. It's not until the owl is almost on top of me that I realize it's here for me. It lands next to my empty goblet and holds out its leg for me, cocking it's head. Rolling my eyes with a sigh, I untie the neatly tied letter. When I then ignore it, the owl ruffles it's feathers and takes off, clearly put off. After just one glance at the handwriting and I let a smile brighten my face for the first time since I left Nick at Kings Cross. I tear the envelope open eagerly, ignoring the three mundanes who're now watching me intently. I mouth the words silently as I read the letter. For a moment I freeze, rereading the sentence over several times. "She has something to ask me, too?" I whisper, scanning the rest of the letter quickly. Nothing gives me any hint at what she wants to ask me and I wonder if we both have the same question in mind. "Who has something to ask you?" Ms. Know-it-all inquires, attempting to read the letter over my shoulder. I swat her away as Mr. Thunderhead and Mr. Eats-a-lot nod in agreement. "My friend Grace, she's a fellow sh...a muggle I grew up with," I say, shifting gears mid-sentence. Without waiting for a reply I push away from the table and head back to the Gryffindor common room.

I lean against a tree, deep in the Forbidden Forest. I watch and listen, trying to be patient while I wait for Valentine. I know it's unsafe to meet with him to train in broad daylight but it's not like I have a choice at this school. A hand touches my shoulder and I jump, my left hand reaching for Tinea's hilt. That is, until Valentine starts speaking. "Thank you for meeting me here, I know you'd prefer to train in a more open area," he says. I tilt my head up and smile brightly, "I'd do anything to get to train with another Shadowhunter right now, especially you." He removes his hand and steps in front of me, pulling out his sword, "that's my beautiful angel-demon. Let's begin." I have just enough time to whip Tinea out before Phaesphoros swipes at me. Tinea parries the blow but the force sends me stumbling backwards over a root. Valentine uses his advantage to drive his blade down towards me, but I'm already standing and dodging out of the way. Tinea comes around in an attack of her own, only to be parried by Phaesphoros. I jump upward and flip onto a fallen tree, landing in perfect balance on the trunk. When Valentine brings his weapon around to strike at me, I knock it down, pinning it in place with Tinea. Unfortunately this leaves the rest of me unguarded and Valentine brings his free hand up to my neck. Instead, he places his hand on my upper arm brings me close, laughing. "Nice job, but you must keep everywhere protected when fighting. You're already better than the others, although you still have a lot to learn," he says to me, sitting down on the tree trunk. I smile goofily at him and sit down too, listening intently to what he tells me.

The sun is starting to dip behind the castle when I realize I best be returning to school for the Halloween feast. "It'll be nothing like at the institute, hunting demons this year instead of downworlders, but I'll make it count," I tell Valentine, sheathing Tinea and retrieving the dagger I'd lost in our most recent fight. He nods and gives me a small hug, the most he ever gives me anymore. I nuzzle my head in his shoulder momentarily before taking off back to the school. "Tell my parents I miss them," I call back, almost at the double oak doors. I can't see Valentine from here, and I know it's not safe for him to be so near the institute, but I know he both heard me and will let them know.

The meal, while different and made of more sweets than normal, does nothing to make me happy. The best part is the fact that Ms. Know-it-all, Mr. Eats-a-lot, and Mr. Thunderhead are nowhere to be found. I let my gaze stay to the Slytherin table and find my blue eyes immediately locked with grey ones. Instead of doing anything, even looking away, I just sit there and search Draco's eyes for signs that he could indeed survive Assenation. After a moment he looks away and I stand up, noticing that we're some of the last ones left. I hear him following me and smirk, noting how easy it is to get this one. We climb the stairs where a crowd has gathered, his attempting to keep his distance from me but failing. Knowing he'd be rude making his way to the front his way, I slip between students easily, leaving a confused path for him. The first thing I see is the writing above the torch: the chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware. The next thing I notice is the caretaker's cat, Mrs. Norris, hanging frozen by her tail from the torch. Tell me this isn't what I think it is, I beg silently. I suck in a sharp breath of air as Draco, beside me, shouts, "enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"


	9. Dueling and a Smirk-Off

The weeks go by in a blur as I quickly catch up to the other second years and fight the urge to get ahead. A week earlier, Professor McGonagall had come around with a list of students who'd be staying for Christmas vacation, but I'd declined politely. Ms. Know-it-all, Mr. Eats-a-lot, and Mr. Thunderhead had all signed up to stay, though. Today there's going to be a dueling club and, of course, I've decided to go. It's only six thirty, leaving me with an hour and a half before the club. I'm absorbed in studding the writing in the wall from ages ago when I hear someone slip out of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I turn around quickly to find three figures hurrying away but I can't make out who it is. Instead of worrying about who it was, I slip into the bathroom to find out what they were doing. Obviously I'd prefer to continue studying the words, but two boys leaving a girls bathroom is just too suspicious. The door closes silently behind me but I still hear Moaning Myrtle say, "back already, are you?" I take a step forward, placing a hand on Tinea's hilt, and reply, "Myrtle? Can you tell me who was just in here?" She floats out of one of the cubicles and stares at me, "who are you?" I give a slight shrug, "just someone looking for answers. Do you know anything about the attacks on Mrs. Norris and Colin Creevey?" She blinks at me, obviously surprised, "perhaps. Why do you care?" I groan, "come on, just answer one of my question. Please?" Now Myrtle glares at me, "and why should I?" Narrowing my eyes, I pull my sleeve up enough to reveal some of my Marks. "Maybe so that I don't go to the Clave about this. You do know who the Clave are, don't you little ghost?" I reply. When she doesn't reply I add, "have any other ghosts told you about us? Surely they'd know about the Accords?" She shakes her head slowly, still looking at the silvery Marks on my right arm. With a sigh I yank my sleeve back down and wander around the bathroom, sure I'll find something.

As it turns out, I find something sooner than I'd thought I would. An empty cubicle with a locked door. "Alohomora," I whisper, pointing my wand at the lock. It clicks and I push the door open. A cauldron sits on the toilet and I hear sizzling from inside the bowl. Stepping closer I examine the potion brewing. Not one we're supposed to make, that's for sure. And yet, it seems familiar. From a book I've read, an old one. THAT'S IT! "Who's making the Polyjuice Potion, Myrtle? Is it those three who I saw leave?" I question out loud. If she replies, I don't notice. My hands reach into my bag and move towards the cauldron, now holding a piece of parchment I didn't even notice I'd grabbed. With a scowl plastered across my face I read over the directions carefully, placing that the potion is due to be done in a week. But, the thing that set of my senses before I even realized it, it's a shade too blue. I work quickly, testing different things in small flasks of the potion to find what's wrong. My watch ticks away, drawing ever closer to eight, when the dueling club is due to start. Finally, when I try dashing some ingredient into a flask and stirring clockwise seven times, the miniature potion becomes the correct color. With quick and careful hands I add the correct amount of the ingredient, the name of which I don't understand, and stir the potion. One, two, three, four, five, six, and seven! I pack my stuff back into my bag and leave the stall, relocking the door. After glancing around, I slip out of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and head to the Great Hall.

I arrive at seven forty five, although I'm far from the first one there. My eyes flicker immediately to Draco, my current target. I walk towards him, a smirk playing its way onto my lips when I see him take an almost unnoticed step towards me. "Hey Draco!" I call sweetly when I'm closer, the smirk now weaving its way through my features. He turns and is about to smile when he sees my smirk, changing course to a scowl. "What are you smirking about, Nightcross?" I allow myself to look hurt at his reproaching voice, dropping the smirk. The scowl on Draco's face lightens slightly before Ms. Pug face cuts in, "you think you can smirk better than my Drakey-poo, do you? Show her a real smirk, Drake." My eyes brighten immediately, "you mean a challenge? I love challenges!" Draco doesn't require any persuasion and I step back, leaving just two feet between us. He goes straight for his all while I take it slow, using a kiddy smirk instead. He presses his so-called advantage and I fake a flinch, knowing it'd make it so much easier when I let out my specialty smirk. The one I use when I'm about to blow up, usually whenever someone mentions K. I've used it so many times that I'm actually fighting myself to wait to let it show up. Soon everyone's gathered in a circle around Draco and I, cheering on one of us. I slip from one level of a smirk to the next, increasing rapidly towards my specialty. I know it must be getting close to eight and decide I've played with him long enough, calling on my long-awaited smirk. Draco and Ms. Pug face actually stumble back and I know without question that I've won. As I turn to find Ms. Know-it-all at my shoulder, Mr. Bright teeth enters the Great Hall, followed by Professor Snape.

After Mr. Bright teeth gets knocked backwards by Professor Snape in their demonstration they start to pair us together. Snape reaches me first and puts me with Ms. Pug face. Once they're done, we're instructed to face each other. I turn to Pansy and smile at her sweetly. We bow to each other slightly and then Mr. Bright teeth starts counting down, "three...two...one!" At one my opponent snarls, "expelliarmus!" I deftly dodge the spell, sidestepping right as the light flashes where I just was. "Rictusempra!" She screeches in a second attempt to get me. I gracefully flip my body around the silver spell, giving Pansy a smug smile. "Is that the best you can do?" I tease, laughing silently. "Why you little..." Ms. Pug face snarls, rushing at me, forgetting about her wand. I jump up lightly and twist over her head, letting myself land on her back. She tumbles down with a cry and scrambles away, panting. "Pansy, it's supposed to be a magic duel, not a fist fight," I say calmly. "I'm going to get you, you stupid, annoying, little mudblood!" She replies snarkily, lunging at me again. I spin my body around and grab the collar of her robes, yanking her back around. "So you want a fist fight? I'll give you a fist fight," I whisper in her ear, knocking her legs out from under her. She rolls over, reaching for my foot, and I let out a snarl, bouncing backwards into a crouch. Her eyes widen and she attempts to get her wand pointed towards me. With a sigh I raise my own and hiss, "expelliarmus." I raise my left hand to catch her wand and it clanks against mine. "Silly mundane, you can't beat me," I tell her simply, straightening up. Ms. Pug face glances around us and lifts her head, trying to look proud and failing. I look around and notice everyone else split between watching me and Ms. Pug face and watching Ms. Know-it-all and another Slytherin. I duck my head and toss Ms. Pug face her wand, muttering a, "catch." When everyone continues to stare at me a snarl at them and storm form the Great Hall, my Shadowhunter training making even that silent.


	10. Agony for the Holidays

I snatch my photo of K off my bedside table and lay it carefully on my bed. With a quick glance at the rest of my stuff, which I'll be leaving here, I slip Tinea into my hip sheath. I'm just about to pick the photo back up when Ms. Know-it-all enters our dorm. And just my luck, she noticed the photo for the first time in months when I'm distracted thinking of how I'll ask Grace my question. "Who's that?" She questions, reaching for the picture frame. My hand whips out before I even have time to think and grabs Ms. Know-it-all's wrist. "Don't touch it," I hiss, clutching the frame tightly to my chest with my other hand. "Is he a friend of yours?" She asks, pulling her hand out of my grip. I tuck the frame into my robe and turn away, heading for the door, "don't. Just don't." She follows after me curiously, "is he your brother or something? Come on, tell me something, please?" I huff out a sigh and mutter quietly, "K." Ms. Know-it-all reaches for my arm and I jerk away, turning back to her. At her confused expression I add, "it's me and my brother, K, on my seventh birthday. Now leave me be, I want to get something to eat from the Great Hall before the train comes." With a glare to hide my pain I turn and stalk out, not waiting for a reply.

Just outside the Great Hall I'm greeted by a group of boys in my year. They appear to be talking about me so I pause, listening. "Come on Michael, if you like her go give her a kiss," one of them says. Another nods in agreement, "yeah, there's no way she could refuse you." After some more words of encouragement from his friends, one of the boys breaks away and walks towards me. I hold my ground and watch him approach, feeling for one of my smaller daggers beneath my robe. When he's just a few steps from me he says, "hi, I'm Michael, Michael Corner-" I cut him off with a wave of my hand, "yeah, yeah, I know what you want. I'm warning you though, you really don't want to kiss me." He narrows his eyes in confusion momentarily before smiling and asking, "why? Do you have a boyfriend?" Shaking my head, I open my mouth to reply when he steps forward quickly and pins me to the wall. Unwilling to hurt some confused mundane, I just stand there, seemingly in shock. Barely a moment passes before he leans forward, pressing his lips to mine. A growl starts low in my throat, frighteningly demon-like, and I twist my head in an attempt to get him off without hurting him. When he refuses to relent I slide my foot between his, wrapping my leg around his ankle slowly. Then I bring my right hand to his shoulder and my left to his chest, now smirking into his stolen kiss. Ignoring all the other students that have gathered, I twist my leg back towards me, simultaneously pushing his chest and shoulder around, and let the growl turn to a snarl. I slam him against the wall and spin in front of him, hands locked on either side of him and an angry glint in my eyes. "I warned you, and you didn't listen. Just be glad I'm not Rose, she wouldn't care about our mandate to protect you. Now let's get this straight," I bring my right arm up to his throat and my left hand twitches my robe aside, revealing my belt heavy with daggers and glamoured seraph blades, "if you even talk about me again, my mandate will crumble to dust. And little mundane, you don't want that, trust me." When he nods I turn away, releasing him, and address everyone else with a glare, "let this be a lesson for all of you. Never mess with Naila Nightcross, or her friends." With a glance at my watch to check the time I groan and follow a bunch of other students leaving the school for the carriage ride to the train.

I watch the landscape roll past outside the train window while Nightmare lays purring beside me. I'd forgotten about him until he came running to me as I climbed into one of the carriages and I'd quickly scooped him up in my arms. My thoughts drift back to the question I'm planning on asking Grace. I must have dozed off because the next thing I know the screech of train brakes jerks me awake. My kitten jumps up onto the seat and I pick him up, glancing out at platform nine and three-quarters. Spying my dad, Grace, and her dad I rush from the train and over to them. Dad takes Nightmare and I turn to Grace, immediately caught in a bone-crushing hug. I hug her back just as tightly until Tinea bumps into another student's mother. We let go and I adjust the sheath, taking Nightmare back from Dad. He gives me a swift kiss on my head and inquiries, "ready to go?" I nod and Grace takes my hand. Together the four of us stroll through the arc and back to Kings Cross Station. Dad leads us to his car, which is so ancient many mundanes are gapping at it. Good thing we rarely need it.

Me and Grace sit in the back while our dads take the front, her dad driving. Nightmare chooses that moment to let out a plaintive yowl and Grace bursts into giggles, quickly joined by me. Once we have control again, I pull one of his treats from my pocket and realize I'm still wearing my robe. "Oops," I laugh, tossing the kitten his treat and shedding the robe. Wadding it up, I toss the robe at Grace and she catches it with a goofy grin. Dad turns around in his seat and looks at us, "calm down you two, you don't want us to crash." While he's smiling as he says this, Grace and I settle down and play with Nightmare for the rest of the ride.

~time skip to Christmas Eve evening~

"Grace! No, stop, don't-" I say, backing away from my friend. "What's wrong, afraid to get some crumbs on you?" Grace teases, tossing a gingerbread man at me. I try to dodge but it hits my side and I burst into a fit a giggles. Momma sticks her head through the doorway from the kitchen and smiles, "now girls, I told you to decorate the gingerbread house, not yourselves." Grace glances at the half decorated house and snorts, making me giggle even more. Momma sighs and goes back to the kitchen to make more cookies. I reach out for Grace and manage to say, "come on, let's get this house decorated." She nods and reaches for the icing tube. I grab the bag of gumdrops right as Grace squirt the icing at me. I squeak and throw a handful of gumdrops at her, licking the icing off my lower lip. She snatches a gumdrop in between her teeth and giggles, ducking away from the others. "Ok, ok, I'm ready to decorate," Grace says, shaking her head with a smile. Swiping the icing tube, I put a dollop on a gumdrop and place it on the door of the house. Following my lead, Grace sticks a gumdrop to the roof of the house.

Pretty soon the gingerbread house's fully decorated and Dad comes into the dinning room. "Your mom said you were decorated each other, but I didn't think she was telling the truth," he says with a chuckle. I glance down at my and Grace's clothes and then back at Dad with a small smile. Grace gives him a guilty look and says, "sorry, Mr. Nightcross." After a moment I look at Grace again and burst into a fit of giggles. "At least the table's clean, right?" I try. He shakes his head and laughs, "yes, because that's the hardest thing to clean back up. Naila, go get cleaned up and wait in your room. I'll take Grace home and see if Valentine wants to give you your gift." I nod enthusiastically and give Grace a hug before making my way upstairs.

I grab a nightgown from my dresser and hop into the upstairs bathroom to wash up. Its the bathroom I used to share with K, and his soap brand still sits on the sink counter. The sight takes my good mood and I swap my dirty clothes for the nightgown quickly. I practically run back to my room and find Valentine sitting at the foot of my bed, a small box in his lap. Nightmare bounds over and hides behind my legs and I giggle, bending to pick him up. Kitten in my arms, I sit at the head of bed and smile at Valentine, "hey Valentine, what's up?" He smiles and strokes Nightmare, "I brought you something for your cat." After a moment he hands me the box and I snatch a small bottle off my bedside table. We swap gifts and I explain, "it's a little bit of Polyjuice Potion, if you add someone's hair and take a sip you'll look like them for an hour. Its something I made at Hogwarts and I already tested some from a different vial to make sure it worked." I watch as he examines the bottle and takes a whiff, nervous about whether he'll like it or not. A moment later he nods and I open the box he gave me, eager to see what he got Nightmare. When I see the shiny black harness I gasp and crawl towards Valentine, tears in my eyes, and hug him tightly. "Thank you so much, I love it," I mumble as the tears start spilling. He holds me gently and strokes me hair, glancing towards the window occasionally but not making any move to leave. Eventually the tears slow and I whisper, "it's just like something K would give me," before sleep claims me.

I dig through my closet, Grace sitting on my bed behind me. "Naila, come on and hurry up, I wanna see your cousin again," she complains. I giggle and pull out a light purple skirt and a nicely fitted shirt with long, silk sleeves, "how's this?" Grace sits up to see and nods enthusiastically, "perfect, now go change so we can leave." Shaking with laughter, I leave my room for the bathroom and change quickly. Returning, I sit down at my vanity and start intricately braiding my hair. Grace comes over and takes the braid from me, doing her best to stay calm when she so clearly wanted to see my cousin again. "So last year you were all for Nick and this year you're all for my cousin Alec?" I question her when she's done. Grace shrugs and drags me from the room, "well Nick obviously wants you, what can a girl do?"

Me and Grace walk side by side on the way to the Institute, so close I can't even feel the cold. Our parents walk behind us, talking to each other about boring stuff. I spot Pater and pull Grace in front of me, avoiding his gaze. Grace looks at me funny but, seeing the high warlock, says nothing. Luckily he doesn't try anything with four fully trained Shadowhunters just a few steps behind me. We reach the Institute and find my uncle, Robert, with his wife and their three children waiting outside. Momma walks over to her brother to talk while Dad and Grace's parents lead us and my two older cousins inside. Grace clings to my arm as we walk, not taking her eyes off my cousin. With a sigh I walk over to him, dragging Grace along. "Hey Alec, this is my friend Grace. Grace, my cousin Alec," I say, holding back giggles. Alec, looking flustered, glances from me to Grace and then over at his sister. Isabelle laughs and places a hand on his shoulder, "she's just introducing you to her friend, Alec, no need to get nervous." Shaking my head, I leave them to it and head for the training room, not caring that it's a holiday.

Once there I bend down and pull the knife from each of my boots. Turning to face the walk with the target, I'm about to let go of one of the daggers when I hear a soft laugh. I spin around, almost dropping the dagger, and see Isabelle leaning against the wall. "What?" I snap, tossing and catching my dagger impatiently. Izzy shrugs, "you're so much like Jace, he never stops training. Maybe you two are related or something." Now I do drop my dagger, jumping back in surprise just in time. "Jace? The Wayland boy your parents took in?" I ask, fidgeting with my sleeve. She nods and raises an eyebrow at me. I shake my head to clear it and bend to pick up the knife. She must notice how I toss the dagger still in my left hand to my right before grabbing the one off the floor cause she remarks, "you're left handed?" I narrow my eyes at her, "yeah? So was my brother." Izzy's eyes light up when I mention K and she exclaims, "oh yeah, your brother died a couple years ago. I remember his ceremony. Kendrix, wasn't it? Died fighting rogue werewolves by himself?" In one swift move I spin around, tossing the dagger from my right hand directly in the center of the target, and finish the spin facing Isabelle again. I snarl at her, "you have no right to talk about K like that, he was a strong and brave Shadowhunter, and an amazing brother!" I know my teeth, just slightly pointed from the demon blood running through my veins, are showing, but make no move to hide them. Izzy stares at me speechless for a moment before I swing around, storming from the room so she can't see my glistening eyes.

Its not hard to find Grace, arguing with Rose over something by the tall Christmas tree. I glare at Rose, "please go." Rose just stares at me and crosses her arms angrily. I fight down another snarl and say, as calmly as I can, "Primrose Sky Maplefox, don't make me ask you again. Now go!" I deliberately use her full name, which I know she hates. Rose huffs in annoyance and walks away, flicking her blond hair in Grace's direction. Once she leaves Grace places her hand on my shoulder and leads me to the front steps of the Institute. For a moment we watch the snowflakes swirl in the wind. Then Grace asks, "what did Isabelle do?" I stare at her in surprise for a moment before sighing and letting out a soft giggle. "You know me too well, Grace. She talked about K as if she knew him. Made it seem like his stupidity killed him. K was ANYTHING but stupid!" I'm shouting by the end and Grace takes my hand, squeezing it tight. Tears slip from my eyes and I lean my head on Grace, looking at the stars as I cry silently. We sit like that for some time before I break the silence, "Grace?" She glances at me from the corner of her eye and blows a snowflake away from her face, "yes, Naila?" I close my eyes and count to three, then sit up and face her, our faces pink from the cold. Taking a deep breath and tilting my head to watch the stars I whisper, "Gracie, will you be my Parabatai?" I lower my gaze to find her staring into space, lost in thought. After a moment her gaze focuses on me and she bursts into a fit of giggles, "did you read my mind or something?" I smile and shake my head, reaching back nervously to play with my hair. When she can talk again Grace takes my hand away from my hair, eyes locking with mine. "Naila Marie Nightcross, it would be an honor to be your Parabatai." Tears slide down my face as my smile brightens and Grace and I hold each other. We sit like that until I hear a growl and jerk away, hand reaching for a dagger. Grace blinks into the distance for a few seconds before standing, pulling me up with her, "let's go back inside. I bet Nick is dying for a chance to dance with you." I let her drag me back in without protest, scanning the shadows for the source of the howl, despite knowing it must have been quite a distance away.

Nick rushes to me the moment Grace drags me into the room. "Merry Christmas, Naila. May I have this dance?" I find myself nodding and Nick takes my hand, gently pulling me towards the other dancers. I sway to the music, head resting on Nick's chest, and fight back tears. About halfway through the song he wraps his arms around me and leads me towards a chair. When he sits and pulls me into his lap, I obey wordlessly, thoughts drifting away. I barely notice Grace constantly flicking her gaze to me as she attempts to teach Alec to dance. Two songs later I look up at Nick through bleary eyes, "can we train?" My voice is hardly louder than a whisper and yet Nick hears the pain in it. He gives me a slight nod and I stand, turning towards the doorway. Nick keeps a hand on my shoulder and leads the way, dodging between bodies soundlessly.

We stop at the weapons room on our way so I can get a sword, as Tinea is at my house. I lift sword after sword to test the weight and then put them back, dissatisfied. Nick, having already retrieved his sword from his room at the Institute, stands patiently in the doorway. I finally give up and select one that's only the slightest bit off for me and give it a swing. With a sigh I give Nick a slight nod and follow him to the training room. I twist my braid up onto my head and secure it with a length of rope hanging on the wall. Then I turn to face Nick, leveling my sword in my right hand. Nick glances at my hand, "you sure you want to use your right hand?" I give a small shrug, "Va- My dad's friend wants me to learn to fight with both hands." Nick narrows his eyes momentarily before shaking his head in confusion. Then we start circling each other, dating the other to make the first move. After a moment my opponent feints to the left and I jerk aside, only to give him a clear shot to my right. He leaps forward, sure in his strike, and I spin around so fast I almost drop the sword as I bring it up to block. The clang sounds throughout the room and Nick and I get knocked backwards from the force. I stumble and trip, but Nick grabs my hand and steadies me before I fall. I smirk and spin away, sword at the ready in seconds. He stands in surprise for a moment and I take my advantage, striking his shoulder with the flat of the blade. He stumbles sideways, barely keeping his footing, and I press on, swinging my sword around with my twisting body. Nick jumps back in an attempt to avoid getting cut and I swing the sword back around, knocking him out of the air. He lands heavily and I place the tip of my blade to his throat with a sly smile. He flops backwards and raises his hands in defeat but I'm already tossing the sword aside. "I'm gonna have my parents take me home," I mutter, striding out of the room.


	11. Polyjuice Mishap

Nightmare bounces around my feet, pawing at the air randomly. I giggle as he darts away and stops in front of the portal, staring from it to Pater and back again. I glance back at my house and see Dad struggling to convince Grace to stay behind. She refuses yet again and hurries over to me, shaking her head but smiling. "We should tell him," she says and I nod. Then she glances at Pater, who's smiling at Nightmare, and pokes my arm. I smack her and tug her further away from the warlock. "You should give him a chance, he's cute," she tells me. I shrug, "Its not fun ruining guys who already like me, I've told you that." Grace glares at me, "then don't ruin him. Just treat him like a NORMAL guy, not one if your playthings." I stare at her for a moment before shaking my head, "you know I won't do that, so don't waste your breathe. But if you want it that bad I'll at least get him wrapped around my pinkie finger." She claps excitedly and I sigh, strolling back towards the portal. Nightmare returns to prancing around my legs and I roll my eyes at Pater. He smiles and I force out a small, sly one in reply. This leaves him blinking in surprise while I scoop up my kitten and turn to my dad. "Hey Dad, Grace and I have something to tell you" I say as Grace joins me. He glances between us and raises his eye brows in question. I nudge Grace and she starts talking at once. "Mr. Jay, Naila and I, we, uh-" I take over for Grace, "We decided to... Well, that we-" I pause and glance at Grace. A moment later we blurt out at the same time, "we're going to be Parabatai." Dad chuckles and I glare at him until he stops. Momma huries over, shaking her head. "Naila, if you don't want to miss the train we need to get going," she says, glancing at Grace in a way that I know means she heard us. I glance at my watch and race towards the portal, Grace easily keeping pace. I pause just long enough to wink at Pater before stepping through the portal.

My feet hit the pavement hard enough that Nightmare squeaks in annoyance. Moments later Grace lands next to me, followed by Momma. We're in an alley just outside the station and Momma pulls us forward, huffing at Grace. We make it to Platform 9 3/4 and I hug Momma tightly. "I'll see you soon, okay? And I was wondering..." I break off and glance at Grace. "Yes, Naila?" Momma prompts me gently. I swallow and say, "could I bring my mundane, um, companion over during the summer? She has the Sight and has had demons following her for years, I thought maybe you and Dad could help me figure it out. I'll take full responsibility for her, and will make sure she doesn't find out anything she shouldn't know." I'm practically begging by the time I finish, but Momma's looking thoughtful. The train whistle blows just as she nods in agreement. "If you feel its best, I trust you Naila. Have fun at school." She bends down and gives me a hug, then ushers me towards the train. I catch Grace in a quick hug before darting to the train and climbing aboard easily. I slip into an empty compartment and watch Grace and Momma from the window until they're out of sight.

Curled up in the corner of my compartment and with Nightmare on my lap, I chose not to acknowledge when someone enters. Without out looking up I stroke Nightmare gently and wait for whoever it is to speak. After a moment a soft voice asks, "is anyone sitting here?" I recognize the voice as Ms. Loopy, and shrug. I glance up long enough to see her sit down across from me before returning to Nightmare. He let's out a soft hiss at Ms. Loopy and I smile at him. Then I block out everything else and watch the fields roll by. Nightmare eventually falls asleep as I absently stroke him. I must look as if I'm in a doze, but only Valentine or J.C. could be more alert than I am now. Not that I've met J.C. Yet.

My Censor goes off weakly in my pocket just at we reach Hogwarts and I leap to my feet immediately. Having already changed into my robes, I take of down the train, shoving past the mandanes ungraciously. I take neither the carriages waiting for the older students nor head for the boats for first years. As I jog towards the castle my Censor's vibrations gradually pick up and I get a sinking feeling that the demon's after Ms. Know-it-all. I reach the front doors and shake my hair out of my face, stepping inside and pulling out the vibrating device. I go slower now, holding the Censor in each direction at every turn before moving forward. At doesn't take long for me to realize I'm heading in the direction of the Hospital Wing, and I start hoping Ms. Know-it-all isn't there.

I hear a scream and push forward, no longer needing my Censor. The scream was unmistakably Ms. Know-it-all and I'm not letting anything happen to her when I'm anywhere near. I dart into the Hospital Wing and see the demon, an Eluthied, chasing a cat-like figure I quickly realize is my tutor. The demon's glamour is slipping as Ms. Know-it-all throws things at it, thrashing wildly. Madam Pomfry is huddled in a corner, eyes wide. Before the demon even sees me grab a dagger from my belt and leap forward, slashing out. The runed dagger meets its mark and slashing the side of the demon, splattering black ichor down my arm. I screech but it quickly turns to a growl as I bare my teeth and yank a seraph blade out. With a muttered, "Haniel," I twist around and slash the demon's throat. As Haniel sinks into the rotten flesh the demon sinks its teeth into my right shoulder. Its teeth can't grip too hard as it dies, but the combination of ichor and bite leave me to weak to stand and I slump to the floor, panting. I toss the used seraph blade aside and order Ms. Know-it-all to check on Madam Pomfry before pulling out my stele and placing it to my skin with gritted teeth. After drawing on an iratze I pull myself to my feet. The Eluthied is gone, with no trace that it was ever here. With a glance at the shoulder of my ruined robe, I make my way over to my tutor, who's back in her bed with Madam Pomfry fussing over her. I stop just behind the nurse, who has no idea what I'd just done, being a regular mundane.

Once Madam Pomdry leaves I pull a chair up to Ms. Know-it-all's bed and glare at her. "Keeping you safe is going to get me killed, and soon," I inform her angrily. She starts to say something but I cut her off. "You're coming over to my place over the summer holidays, my parents and I will try to figure out why demons are going after you. I might even teach you some basic defense moves." She stares at me and her ears prick slightly. As an after thought I add, "also, how did you end up looking like a cat?" Ms. Know-it-all gulps and stutters, "I, uh, well, it wasn't..." Then realization hits me and I burst out giggling. "You were the one who made the polyjuice potion!" I exclaim. She motions frantically for me to quiet down and I manage to control the giggles, looking at her expectantly. Before she can reply, Mr. Thunderhead and Mr. Eats-a-lot enter. They glance back and forth between me and Ms. Know-it-all, obviously confused. Ms. Know-it-all gives a slight nod and the two boys blink at me on surprise. "How did you crack Hermione?" They demand at the same time. I shrug, "maybe if you were smarter you guys would have realized that you lost a vial of your potion before Christmas." All three goggle at me and I shrug again, "I gave it to my mentor, if you're wondering. Now, while I'd really like to hear your explanation, fighting wears me out and I'm starving. I expect you to tell me everything later, though, or next time I'll just let you're potion fail. And Hermione, tell them anything and I'll stop trying to figure it out, and let them get you." With that I stride from the Hospital Wing, not even confused about how Nightmare made his way from the train the here.


	12. Valentine Has a Day?

When February 14 comes around, I wake to Nightmare pawing at my face. I'd sent him home with his new harness a few days ago, knowing my family and friends would want to sent me birthday greetings. I groggily push him off me and sit up, losing the remains of Raziel and the golden haired Jace from my dream. I'd hoped the dreams would give me peace for my birthday, but apparently not. Ms. Know-it-all's bed is empty so I can only assume she's already at breakfast, having returned from the Hospital Wing some time ago and having no need to return. After reading the letters, one each from Grace, Valentine, and my parents, I dress quickly and leave Nightmare to get breakfast. As I get closer to the Great Hall, I begin to notice students leaving in a rush to tell their friends something. Utterly confused, I step into the room and immediately freeze. Struggling to take in all the pink, red, and white decorations and their reason, I slowly make my way to the Gryffindor table. Ms. Know-it-all is practically bursting with excitement and I sit across from her and Mr. Eats-a-lot, ending up next to Mr. Thunderhead. I glance at him curiously and ask, "What's with all the decorations?" While waiting for him to register that I asked a question, I help myself to fluffy pancakes with raspberries. "Don't you know what day it is?" Mr. Eats-a-lot asks me around a mouthful of food. I shrug, "February 14th? The second week of the second month of the year?" I stop myself before adding, "my birthday?" Mr. Thunderhead looks at me in confusion, "um, don't you realize it's Valentine's Day?" Valentine's WHAT???? "Uh, what?" I question, earning gasps all across the Hall. From everyone who hears me in fact. Before any of them can reply, Mr. Bright Teeth begins talking. "Happy Valentine's Day!" he shouts, beaming. I tune him out and turn to the others and demand, "someone PLEASE tell me what this 'Valentine's Day' thing is?" Ms. Know-it-all stares at me strangely for a moment before explaining, "its a day to send love notes, Valentines, to your crush or someone and to hang out with your girlfriend or boyfriend." Shaking my head in confusion and wishing I was at the London Institute instead of here, I return to my breakfast.

The "cupids" Mr. Bright Teeth hired chase students down all day and I ponder over the idea of glamouring myself. When one of them heads for me at the end of one lesson, I pull Tinea from the shoulder sheath I'm using and hold her readily at my side. Seeing this the dawf holds up its hands in a show of peace and I grimace, lowering but not sheathing the sword. Knowing what I'd readily do, the dawf shakily hands me a 'Valentines' and hurries away. Rolling my eyes and slipping Tinea into her sheath, unnoticed by all but Ms. Know-it-all, I continue on my way to History of Magic. Once I've taken my seat in the classroom, I open up the letter and read it silently. Ms. Know-it-all, next to me, attempts to read it over my shoulder and I shrug her away, reading it out in a whisper for her. "Nightcross, I don't know what you've done to me. All I can think about anymore is you. I never knew anyone could make me feel this way. I want some time with you, without others around. Maybe at the edge of the Forbidden Forest tonight at 9:30? See you then, D.M." Ms. Know-it-all frowns and takes the letter from my hand, "D.M.? Is this from Draco Malfoy?" I shrug and whisper, "duh, who else?" "You mustn't go, he's trying to get you in trouble. In all the years-" I cut off the silly mundane with a wave of my hand. "Of course I know that. I've been sent many love letter, by many different people, and I know how to tell when its fake. The way he called us 'Mudbloods' after those pixies let me know he'd be a hard one to break. But yes, I'm going." After that I take back the letter and ignore her for the rest of the day.

At 9:20, I slip into one of the couple cheap leather jackets I brought, having not thought about my gear. Ms. Know-it-all, the only other girl awake in our dormitory, glares at me from her bed. Turning my back to her, I apply a glamour rune to my right wrist and shake out my hair. "I know you can see me, because you have the Sight, but none of the other stupid mundanes at this school can see me now," I say, turning back around. She grunts in reply, obviously wanting me to stay but having no way to make me, especially since I no longer need tutored. Shrugging, I step out the door and make my way through the castle, only having the slightest trouble with teachers posted guard from the Chamber of Secrets attacks. I silently make my way across the grounds towards the Forbidden Forest, listening to the slight sounds of hunting vampires. My demon blood does heighten my sight, but not enough at night, so I pull out my steele and apply a quick Night Vision rune. The Mark burns against my elbow as its affects start working. I spot someone with blonde hair just inside the Forest, and don't realize who it is until I'm much closer. I pause and glance towards the castle quickly before steeping over to the tall figure. "Valentine, what are you doing here?" I hiss quietly. In mock shock Valentine places a hand over his mouth, "am I not allowed to visit my favorite experiment where she's stuck with mundanes 24/7?" Rolling my eyes, I glance towards the castle again and spot Draco slipping through the shadows. "Look, its good to see you and all, but I've gotta go, sorry." I turn away from Valentine, figuring it best to not tell him about "Valentine's Day", and step back out of the trees.

Draco pauses a yard or two away and glances around, obviously looking for me. Swiftly disabling the glamour I walk over to him, coming from behind. "Hey Drake, what's up?" I say in a sickly giggly voice. He jumps about a foot in the air and spins around, eyes round as watermelons. "Don't sneak up on me like that! And were where you, I couldn't see you?" He demands, glancing around. I shrug and point towards the treeline, catching a glimpse of glowing eyes and barely containing my fury. Walking back towards the Forest, I unsheathe my non-glamoured short sword in my left hand and a dagger in my right. I stalk towards the wolf, not once taking my eyes of it. Suddenly the eyes rise and darken and I charge, or attempt to. Draco freaking Malfoy, an idiotic mundane, grabs my upper arm just as the human werewolf vanishes. I spin on him before I can even process what happened and lash out, slicing his cheek with my dagger. Fury and hate blind me as I take deeps breaths and he raises a hand to the cut, eyes wider then when I surprised him. Slowly I come to my senses and realize what I did, and let out a screech so demon-like I almost don't realize it was me. Draco backs up, eyes glistening with tears of pain, as I slump to the ground, Tinea thumping down beside me. Numbly I slip my wand from my robe and mutter a healing spell, not even looking up at him. After a moment of my body being racked by silent sobs, the Slytherin Prince kneels next to me and drapes his arm around my shoulders hesitantly. I slowly raise my head and meet his gaze, not daring to look at his cheek and the scar I undoubtedly just gave him. "What just happened there?" He questions me in a whisper, still in obvious shock. After fumbling for words for a moment, I manage to get out, "Shadowhunter...mandate...I just...b..broke it!" When he stares at me blankly I guess I must've spoken in a different language by accident, and try again. "Mandate...protect...broken...life purpose..." I break off and gasp, shuddering uncontrollably, and only his arm keeps me upright. Closing my eyes, I breathe in and force out one last word, "leave." To my relief and expectation, he listens, making his way up to the school, and I lay down. Staring at the night sky, unglamoured, gasping for breathe, and still shuddering, I feel myself lose consciousness as my previously slightly pointed teeth sharpen against my lip.


	13. Valentine's Demon

I blink open my eyes to a blinding white room. Squeezing them shut, I groan and force myself into a sitting position. Peeling my eyes open again, I find Mrs. Stern face and Mrs. Healer staring at me in surprise. When I open my mouth to ask what happened, I find that my teeth feel different. After careful inspection with my tongue, I discover that my previously only slightly sharper teeth are more noticeable, but only if you're looking for it. I don't get long before I'm bombarded with questions. What was I doing so close to the Forbidden Forest, and so late? Uh, Draco. How did I get past all the teachers on watch? Glamour, duh. Do I know what's going on with my teeth? Yes and no. Can I talk okay? Yes, but I'm not going to. And, most important, why on Earth did I get a sword? That snaps me out of my silence. "Tinea! Where is she?" I demand, frantically scanning the surrounding area. After sharing a confused glance with Mrs. Stern face, Mrs. Healer ventures to respond to me. "The sword? Professor Dumbledore has it in his office. Where did a second year like you even get a sword?" I bite my lip and, when I taste blood, slip my hand into my pocket for my stele only for it to come back out empty. I turn my ever darkening gaze on the teachers, baring my teeth. "Where is my stele?" I grind out in my best attempt at calm. Mrs. Stern face pulls it out of her own pocket and I snatch it from her before she can say a word and slash on an Iratze. Its sloppy, but it does the trick as the pain in my lip diminishes. Then I swing my legs off the bed and stand up, brushing past the teachers easily on my way out.

I somehow find the entrance to the headmaster's office. Instead of attempting to guess the password or do anything else even remotely fair, I apply an opening ruin and hurry up the stairs, to angry to wait for them to take me up. I bang on the door four times when I hear a voice from inside say, "come in." Shoving open the door, I take one step inside and stop, crossing my arms over my chest. When Mr. Long beard looks up and smiles I snarl at him, but he doesn't even falter. "Where is my sword?" I hiss, fury flashing my eyes. Right now I wouldn't care if it was Valentine, or even K, I'm talking to. I all care about is that this man, this foolish man, thinks he can take MY possession. Not to mention the fact that I'm not only-human, or part-human part-angel, or even part-human part-demon, I'm part-human, part-angel, AND part-demon. When the old man just keeps smiling I stalk towards his desk, just barely holding back the desire to grab a dagger. Mr. Long beard simply pulls out Tinea and sets her before me, still smiling. Snatching Tinea, I storm towards the door and pause just long enough to spit at him, "I don't care what compelled you, but NEVER take anything of mine again!" As I make my way down the stairs I hear him call out, "I tried to warn you about bringing your sword. Next time I won't be able to return it to you, so be careful." I ignore him and make my way to the dormitory, wincing just slightly at the pain thrumming through my teeth.

I slip silently into the seat beside Ms. Know-it-all and pull out my Shadowhunter Codex. I've read it enough times I could recite every word of it, but it still remains my go-to book. I decide not to eat anything, as my brain's too busy trying to remember what Valentine just taught me. Instead I flip through the pages of my book, trying to find at least something on the monster tormenting the school, which I'm almost positive is a demon. It's been a while since I attacked Draco and he's been avoiding me since. This, of course, puts me in a foul mood, and so when Mrs. Stern face places a paper with the choices for my new classes in front of me, I almost go off on her. I snatch at the list and scan the classes quickly. Some first year muggle-borns farther down the table keep talking about Easter, making it hard for me to comprehend the options. When I notice Ancient Runes, my eyebrows draw together. Deciding they can't know more confusing runes than the ones I use, I select it as one of my new classes. On a whim I also select Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. Then I sit and watch Mr. Thunderhead and Mr. Eats-a-lot randomly stab at their papers, surprised they aren't choosing carefully when it could very well lead to their future job.

After a while, I head out to the Quidditch pitch and snag one of the school brooms. Flicking my wand at the two wooden balls I'd made, I kick up and am in the air. I swing the Beater's Club Madam Hooch gave me permission to use, knocking one of the balls away. Someone else comes out on the pitch and my other fake Bludger immediately darts down. I speed after it, swatting it away mere centimeters from the blonde head. Draco looks up, startled, and stares after the ball. I land my broom next to him and keep an eye on the wooden balls, clinching the club in my hand. Draco turns to me and sneers, "They not letting a mudblood use real Bludgers? Or even practice with others? They ashamed?" I roll my eyes, hitting away one of the balls, and turn cautiously towards him. He falters before I even open my mouth. "As a matter of fact, they just don't have use for a third Beater when practicing, so I practice on my own. Oliver offered to practice with me, but I declined him. So if you don't mind, I'd like to return to practicing." With that I hop back onto the broom and soar upwards, dodging one of the balls during the rise. A moment later a small golden ball zooms past me, followed by Draco. "What do think you're doing? One of my Bludgers could hit you!" I scream after him. To prove my point both of them aim for him. Deftly, I send them flying away and turn to the smirking face of a twelve-year-old boy. "Then how about you keep them away? We can practice together, and maybe I can reconsider telling my father what you did." At my questioning look, he just shrugs and darts after the snitch. Which is how, half an hour later, I end up landing with him, both laughing hard. Although the moment we touch the ground he stalks off on his, reverting back to his snobbish self, I consider it a long awaited victory.


	14. Monster of the School

I gasp, slamming my book down, and my wild eyes find Ms. Know-it-all's. "Naila, what's wrong?" She exclaims, glancing at the others in the common room. Without a word I place my History of Magic book in the bag at my feet and slip out of the common room. The Fat Lady looks at me funny, but I ignore her and wait impatiently for the mundane. When she joins me I walk away, leading her to the library. "Naila, will you please tell me what's going on? I have to watch Harry's Quidditch match," she complains. I don't stop, or turn around, when I reply, "I know why we can't find anything on the monster in the Chamber of Secrets." I don't offer any explanation, despite her pestering. We reach the library and I head straight for the restricted section. Ms. Know-it-all grabs at my arm, glancing around fearfully. "We're not allowed back there," she whispers, attempting to hold me back. I shake her off and stop at one of the tables, pulling out a dagger and my stele. "You stay here. If you hear anything call for me, and don't let go of that," I instruct, passing the dagger to Ms. Know-it-all. "But you said-" she begins, and I cut her off. "I know I said I'd protect you while we're at school, but who knows what might come after you while I'm searching for a book. Now stay here don't do anything stupid," I tell her, glamouring myself and moving on the the restricted section carefully.

I scan the titles of the books, moving quickly, hoping they have what I need. Pausing in front of one shelf, I pull out several books, opening to the front page. Most of them get put back immediately, but a thin, frail one gets tucked neatly under my arm. Moving on, I select books of different languages, styles, and ages seemingly at random. After about half an hour I return to the table to find Ms. Know-it-all examining the runes on my dagger. Setting the stack of books down, I disable the glamour and take a seat. Then I slide three of the books, all in English, across the table. "You know what you're looking for. And don't lose sight of that dagger, it might save your life." Not waiting for a reply, I start in on a book in Japanese, doing my best with what little language classes I've had. A moment later I toss the book aside, grabbing the one in Latin. This one's harder for me to translate and by the time I'm done Ms. Know-it-all is on her final one. I reach for my third when my eyes trail to the first one I selected, and I open it instead. Its in a mixture of languages, most of them demonic, but I find what I'm looking for. "Hermione. Come look at this," I say quietly. She moves to the seat next to me and scans the page, brow furrowed in confusion.I read aloud the passage, translating the bits of demonic mixed in that I can. "One of the oldest demons this world has ever known is more deadly than you can imagine. With its own language known only amongst Greater Demons, this ancient creature can kill mundanes on sight. From all over,we strive for a chance to kill this monstrous beast. More deadly than even the Dragon Demon, this otherworldly being takes down our numbers by tens and twenties,hardly ever leaving survivors."

Ms. Know-it-all slaps me and I pause, glancing at her. "What?" I snap nervously."Why aren't you saying the name of these people? I can't exactly read it and it might help us if I knew who they were," she complains. I look her dead in the eye and lie plainly, "I do not know how to translate it." Then I turn back to the book and read silently, ignoring her. I reach a later entry written by some mundane, and read aloud again. "Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land," demons, I think, "there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents." Figures mundanes would call it that. "This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad." Oh, how stupid they are! "Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death." So that's how it kills so many Shadowhunters. "Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it." I set down the book and tear out the mundane's entry, passing it to Ms. Know-it-all. "But, if this is the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, how is it getting around the school?" she asks me. I sigh and mutter, "mundanes are so STUPID!" Then look at her and say, "think about it. What's all over the school, in every wall, unable to be seen?" She looks at me in surprise and whispers, very quietly, "pipes." I only nod and she scrawls the word onto the back of the paper, then we rush out of the library.

Before long we bump into an older student, female and in Ravenclaw. Ms. Know-it-all quickly explains to her about using a mirror to look around corners, while I slowly step forward. The Ravenclaw, whom I now notice is a prefect, snatches at my arm. "Are you stupid? The Basilisk could be there, and killyou!" She cries out. I shake her off, "My people are not like you weak mundanes. We do not get killed easily, and I bet you anything its the venomous fangs that kill us every time." And so I take another step forward, pausing only to tell them, "I'll go first, and then tell you two if its safe. Trust me, I'll be fine." Then I'm gone, their muffled protests making no change. The first thing I see is a giant tail, attached to an even larger body. As my eyes travel up I already know this is the Basilisk, and know it can't kill me if I look at its eyes. So I purposely meet its yellow gaze, my dark blue eyes flashing a brilliant gold before going completely black. I just barely see amirror in the corner of my eye, and my last thought before everything is irrelevant is that I failed, not the mundanes of this school, butValentine.


	15. Waking Up

All I see is white. All I hear is a buzzing sound. I have no sense of direction, or time, or of the world around me. Something isn't right, but I can't think. I can't do anything. I can't even move. I don't know how I can breathe. I don't know how I'm alive. I have no idea where I am, or what happened. I don't know anything. Except that I'm not dead. I know that, but I don't know how I know it. I itch to prove to Valentine that I'm better than everyone else. That's another thing I know. I know Valentine is my idol. I can't remember who he is, but I know I trust him with my life. He'll say I'm weak, failing like this. Even though I don't know how I failed. Maybe he can forgive me….

I cough and splutter, gasping in air. Madam Pomfrey stands beside my bed, a cup in her hands. When she sees my reaction she nods and moves on, oblivious to my pain. But the thing is, I'm not. And all I can focus on is that if I don't get an iratze soon, I may never prove to Valentine what I can do. So I fumble for my bag beside my bed, my hand trembling terribly. Ms. Know-it-all is in the bed beside mine, and comes to my rescue. She drops down by my bag and reaches in, "what do you need?" I shudder, "Can't. Remember. What it. Looks like. The book. I'm always reading." Her eyes show her confusion but she digs out the Codex and hands it to me. Shakily, I flip through the pages as quick as I can. When I find the one I want I reach for my belt, barely unhooking my Stele before my back arches with pain. Ms. Know-it-all stares at my Stele, "that's what you draw on yourself with sometimes." I gasp and my eyes fly wide. "Yes. Now I need you to draw on me. Hurry," I manage. She carefully picks it up and looks at me, "What do you need me to draw?" I look down at the book and place my shaking finger on the iratze. Then I shake my robe off my wrist and hold out my hand, gritting my teeth and throwing my head back. The familiar feel of getting a Rune sends me into a peaceful sleep.

When I next wake, what I had a mundane do comes crashing down on me. I lift my hand and look at the badly drawn iratze. Deciding against another one, I roll over to see Ms. Know-it-all sitting up and reading a book. Pushing myself into a sitting position, I clear my throat to get her attention. She immediately places a finger on her page and looks up at me. "You know you gave Madam Pomfrey a fright, passing out like that?" She inquires. I shrug, "how long was I out?" "An hour or two, I think. Harry and Ron have both come to see me, and told me everything." She hesitates, then adds, "Malfoy came to see you, you know. I think he was worried." Ignoring her curious eyes, I search my belt and affirm everything is still there. Then I search my bag, finding nothing missing. Seeing Madam Pomfrey making her way over, I turn to Ms. Know-it-all. "You MUST not tell anyone about what happened to me. ANYONE. Understand?" I demand. She shrinks back, startled, but nods slightly. And then Madam Pomfrey is all over me, checking my vitals and catching me up on what had happened while I was petrified. As long as only Hermione and that prefect know I looked directly at the Basilisk, they can believe I was a normal victim like everyone else.

When me and Ms. Know-it-all make our way down to the feast that night, Mr. Thunderhead and Mr. Eats-a-lot are waiting for us, ready to hear our story. Hermione starts explaining how I helped her figure out it was a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. When she reaches the part where I left her and the prefect and went around the corner, she pauses and looks at me expectantly. Sighing, I pick up the story. "I stepped around the corner, because I knew the basilisk wouldn't be able to kill me by looking at me," I say quietly. When they try to interrupt I raise a finger, and continue even quieter. "I may look like you and everyone else at this school, but I am not a mundane. Hasn't this entire school been wholly confused by my crazy last name? And haven't I blatantly refused to answer questions about it? That should be enough to prove to you that I am different, but if not the rest of my story will. But you can't tell anyone." I pause and take a breathe, then continue after they nod. "When I stepped around the corner, the first thing I saw was a giant green tail. I knew it must be the basilisk, and I didn't have enough to kill it. So I knew I had only one option. And that was to look into its eyes, and let it petrify me." They try to argue and I send them daggers with my eyes. "I told you I am different than you. And I knew looking directly into its eyes wouldn't kill me. So I did, and I was simply petrified. Like all the other students. So now you know what happened to me." At that moment Professor McGonagall stood up, and everyone fell silent. "The exams this year will be canceled," she announces, "as a school treat!" After that, I revert to my usual silent self at this school. I even ignore Draco when he tries to get my attention.

The rest of the year passes in a daze for me. Valentine visits me a few times, to help me return to my prime after no practice for weeks. Draco starts seeking me out, but I always manage to evade him. Ms. Know-it-all gets permission from her parents to spend the beginning of summer break with me, and nothing unusual happens with her scar. I don't encounter any more demons at the school, which is both a relief and frustrating. On the train ride back to Kings Cross, I absorb myself in my books, ignoring Ms. Know-it-all, Mr. Thunderhead, and most of the redheads. We reach the station and I hop off the train, towing my trunk behind me and with Nightmare's carrier tucked under my arm. Ms. Know-it-all steps up beside me, her own trunk in tow, and together, with Mr. Thunderhead and Mr. Eats-a-lot, we pass through the barrier back to the muggle world.

Grace greets me the moment I'm through, making me momentarily lose Ms. Know-it-all. Dropping both my trunk and Nightmare's carrier, I envelop Grace in a tight hug. "I've missed you soo much, Naila!" She exclaims. "Rose has gotten so annoying, and keeps trying to get Nick to go after her instead of you." Giggling, I bend to retrieve my trunk while Grace picks up my hissing cat. I notice my parents making their way over and turn to Ms. Know-it-all. "Let's go introduce you to my parents," I manage before my soon-to-be Parabatai drags me away. My trunk gets dropped yet again as both Momma and Dad wrap their arms tightly around me. Wriggling away, I push the mundane in front of me. "Momma, Dad, this is Hermione, the m, uh, girl I asked about. Hermione, this is my mum and dad," I say. Grace punches me playfully and I push her back. Then I add, "Hermione, this is my friend Grace. Grace, Hermione." Losing her playfulness, Grace stares at the mundane in total curiosity. "Well, let's not sit here all day, we have a meal to prepare for you girls at home!" Momma declares, and starts ushering us to the car. Dad follows with my trunk, and as Grace, Ms. Know-it-all, and I pile into the back of the car, I sigh in happy contentment.


End file.
